Mario Versus Sonic in a Game of Baseball
by Child at Heart Forever
Summary: Once Mario's expert baseball team can't be beaten anymore, some old "friends" are tricked into asking for a match! With little baseball experience but potential skill, will Sonic's team provail or will Mario hang onto his title?
1. Rearranging the Game

Mario vs. Sonic in a Game of Baseball

Prologue: Rearranging the Game

This was it. The final game of the season. Last inning, last batter, last chance to make a home run and secure victory. He gained his grip on the handle of his bat. He was going to need any extra support, especially since his opponent's tosses were deadly, and knowing how bad a sport that guy was, he definitely wasn't going to go easy. The bases were loaded, they had two outs against them, and this was his chance. He usually was a good hitter, but under the pressure to make a Grand Slam certainly rattled him.

"You can do it Mario!" Peach called all the way from second base. Mario just gulped. Bowser tossed the baseball tauntingly up and down in his hand.

"Are you ready for this, Mario?" Bowser growled with a smirk. "There's no _way_ you can do this!"

"Don't let him get to you!" Luigi shouted, sitting next to Yoshi who was upset about getting the second out for his team. Mario wouldn't let his knees shake. This was baseball, and when he was against Bowser, it was a battle of good and evil.

Bowser's son was sturdy at left field, Kamek at right, the Hammer Bros. in the outfield, and three Dry Bones at home, first, and third plate. For Mario's team, Toad was at first for a change, Peach second, and Waluigi getting ready to run home.

"Give it your best shot!" Mario dared, narrowing his eyes with blazing determination. Bowser hardly needed to swing his arm; he jerked it forward, and the ball flew past Mario with a blazing pink streak. Mario didn't know what went by him.

"Strike one!" yelled Lakitu. Mario grimaced, but simply prepared for another swing. Bowser started to throw like he was doing an over hand, but then pulled off a change up and sent it flying into the air. Ugh, Mario _hated_ change-ups! Nevertheless, he readied his bat, kept his eye on the ball, and swung just when he thought the time was right. He heard the ball crack against the bat and started to run, but instantly froze when he heard "Foul Ball!"

Bowser's team burst out in laughter as Mario blushed and returned back to the batter area. A foul in Baseball Kingdom was counted as a strike, meaning Mario now had two.

"Gra hahahaha! That was sure the highlight of _my_day!" Bowser cackled, wiping away a tear as Mario scowled darkly. "You can give me a dark look all you want, Mario! My team's going to win, and it'll be your _entire_ fault!"

He roared, transforming his ball into a Bullet Bill. He threw it, made it do a loop in the air, and charge at the batting plumber. Mario gasped and just swung- mostly to defend the Bullet from hitting his face. Unintentionally, his bat lit up in furious flames, smacking it against the Bullet Bill, turning it back into a ball, and sending it careening through the air.

"GO MARIO!" shouted everyone in the cage. Mario didn't need to be told twice- he was off before they even finished. Toad saw the ball in the air and scrambled to second base, Peach skipped to third, and Waluigi wasted no time in getting to home. Kamek used some magic to move the ball closer to him and chucked it at home, but Waluigi easily slid to the base and secured a run. With another run added to their score, it was 15 to 13, Bowser still winning. Peach parked at third, Toad abruptly stopped at second, but Mario kept on running.

"Keep going Toad!" he ordered sharply.

"Wh-What?"

Toad had no choice but to run, at the same time forcing Peach to keep going too. Unfortunately, Dry Bones at home base had the ball, but he didn't see Peach coming and tossed it back to Bowser.

"What're you _doing_, moron!" he belted out, grabbing the ball in midair and chucking it forcibly back. It collided with Dry Bones full force, sending him flying into Lakitu. Peach twirled happily over the base and struck a pose. She ran back to the batter box, receiving high fives from her team (minus Wario and Waluigi) and getting a hug from Daisy. The score increased to 15 to 14.

Meanwhile, Toad was panting all the way to third, praying with all his might he didn't have to run anymore. Mario had other ideas.

"Still keep running!" Mario shouted. Toad screeched in retaliation.

"Are you _nuts?_ They'll get me out, and you know it!"

"Just do it! You have to now!" Mario exclaimed frantically.

Toad's expression revealed that he felt like he was trotting into death as he took off.

"Get rid of the stupid ball Dry Bones!" Bowser bellowed.

"You're going to make us lose, Bone-Head!" Junior also spat. Dry Bones chattered a response while trying to find the ball that became lost in Lakitu's cloud. He pulled it out triumphantly, only to witness Toad sprinting unsurely for home base.

"Hit him in the head!" Kamek chortled. Toad screamed and grabbed what he could of his mushroom cap. Mario's team groaned while others shielded their eyes from the possibility of losing. Dry Bones sent the ball flying at Toad, taking Kamek's advice and ignoring Bowser's booms of "STEP ON THE PLATE YOU BUFFOON!"

Toad tripped under pressure, toppling to the ground as the ball whizzed right over his head and tumbled into the outfield. His bouncy head hit the ground and sent him flying straight into home. Mario's team jumped excitedly into the air while Bowser was spewing angry flames in all directions. The score was now tied- one more run and they'd win! Unless, of course, someone got out…

Mario safely hit third, and received many shouts of "STAY PUT!" from the team.

"Don't-a go anymore!" Wario demanded.

"I'm up next anyway!" cheered Daisy with extreme confidence, standing up, and stretching with her bat. Mario sulked a bit- Daisy was his friend, and an excellent hitter, but she always hit right to the fielders. Every one of her balls had a high tendency to get her out. He wasn't going to take that chance.

"What are you doing!" cried Yoshi as Mario suddenly bolted from his safe zone. Was it just him, or did it seem like home plate was father than all the other plates? Maybe it was just pressure… the ball was still just sitting in left field anyway, so he was clear for the go.

"Get that ball! Get that ball!" Bowser screamed at the top of his lungs. "Don't let them win!"

"I got it!" called Bowser Jr., running for it frantically. He was abruptly pushed out of the way by an unexpected interference and ended up cascading onto the ground.

"Move it, kid!" Fire Bro. snorted, picking up the ball and aiming at home plate. "Hey hey!"

Everything went into slow motion as the ball left Fire Bro.'s hand. With a whoosh of wind and a bit of flame, the ball rocketed to the nervously awaiting Dry Bones. Bowser Jr. instantly stood back up and whacked Fire Bro. over the head with his paintbrush.

"What's _wrong_ with you? I could've so gotten Mario out!"

"You can't throw to save your life! You would've curved it and missed the base completely!"

Junior made a face, only because it was true. Fire Bro. nonchalantly disregarded the attack and attempted to wipe the paint off his arm. Meanwhile, Mario's team was shouting for Mario to turn around and head back, but Mario was sure he wouldn't let them down. He heard the ball coming up fast behind him and kicked his running into high gear. Whereas Mario was breathing heavily, Bowser was praying that Mario would spontaneously fall down a hole. Both Mario and the ball neared home plate and everything froze. One second determined which team would win.

Way too epic…and slightly cliché. Seriously, something like this _always_ happens!

Mario didn't bother to think; he instantly grew three times his size, rendering the ball hitting him useless. The sudden force reflected the ball away and sent it flying far from home plate once more. Jumping and flipping around with style, Mario landed on home plate, winning once again for his team.

"GO Mario!" shouted the Fireballs, rushing out of the dugout and cheering wildly for Mario. Bowser was so furious that he swung his bat over Bowser Jr., Kamek, and Hammer Bro.'s heads. Mario went from cheering madly to being thrown up in the air. Waluigi and Wario dumped a bunch of rotten Mushroom Dew on their captain, but Mario was in too good of a mood to care. With this win, he had beaten every other team in the Mushroom Kingdom! Not counting when he went against his friends' own teams, but all the other teams out there. No matter what, their team always came out on top.

. . .

"I can't believe we're the champions now!" Daisy cried, carrying the trophy into Peach's castle.

"I know! Neither can I!" Toad strained to say since he was the one helping to carry it in.

"Don't forget, it was all thanks to Mario!" Peach pointed out with an uncontainable grin. Mario nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Don't make me look like an idol or something, please…"

"How can we not though?" Yoshi wondered.

"I'm sure that anyone could've performed how I did, you know…"

"You must be kidding. No one in this world could've pulled something like that off!" exclaimed Luigi. "Now, let's celebrate with parfaits!"

Everyone raised eyebrows. Luigi shrugged. "What? I like parfaits…"

**Meanwhile-**

"Yes, yes, _thank_ you…I'm working on it! You know, I have a life too! Sheesh…"

A young girl with tanned-skin, black hair, white gloves green eyes, and green attire slammed down the phone and fell face first onto her desk. This girl was known as Child, and she was currently residing in a building known as MS Station. It was in an area that was between the worlds of Mario and Sonic, and the two worlds could cross over at any given time, provided they passed through first.

There were many secrets to the station itself, but that was at the bottom of Child's priorities at that moment in time. She was backed up in so much work with the future so uncertain- wait a second, what was that?

Child's head sprung up at the sound of the TV in the corner, grabbing the remote and jamming the volume up to the max. The TV was turned to the News Network, where it was showing footage about Mario's latest baseball victory, speaking about how they had become undefeated, and was now the champions in the entire kingdom. Child couldn't help a small smirk, lowering the volume once again and leaning back in her chair.

"No way! So they've finally done it!" she exclaimed, smiling to herself with an amused expression. "About time, especially how highly they spoke of baseball before…"

"About time for what?"

Child raised an eyebrow as a smaller girl trudged in the room, sporting a pink outfit, a black tie, black boots and gloves, and a braid in her hair. She cocked a hip as she folded her arms, her demeanor being enough to demand an explanation.

"You know Natalie," Child replied with a huff. "Mario had been talking about baseball season, and now that it's finally ended, he and his friends have become an undefeated team!"

"Well sorry I don't keep up with the latest sports trends," scoffed the younger sister, shaking her head. "But who cares? They're undefeated, whoop-dee-do."

"Not the way I see it," Child replied with a sparkle in her eye, and Natalie winced.

"Please don't tell me you're getting a crazy idea to pit Mario and Sonic against each other?"

"Not when you phrase it like that," Child pointed out, wagging a finger. "This could be the perfect chance to set them on the path to becoming friends! I mean, I did vow that I'd convince them to get along eventually, and if they don't, they won't be able to cross over…"

"Well, that wouldn't matter, would it?" replied Natalie, narrowing her eyes. "If they hated each other, why would they want to go to the other's world?"

Child scowled and shook her head. "You know it's not like that."

"Hmm…" Natalie muttered under her breath, as if a plot was developing in her mind. She turned away from Child and smirked to herself. "If getting them to hate each other would cause destruction, then I-"

"Nat!" Child suddenly yelped, spinning in her chair and rapidly beginning to type on the computer. Natalie snapped out of her thoughts and grimaced, sulking as she turned to face her older sister. "You're the Universal Manager of these two, remember? You get the papers ready for Sonic's team while I type something up really quick. It'll draw both Mario and Sonic into have a game of baseball!"

Natalie frowned as Child rapidly got to work, sashaying out of the room with her heels clicking against the linoleum floor. Her fists clenched as her teeth grinded against each other, but this went unnoticed by the meticulously working Child.

"…such a stupid idea, I swear…"

Once again, it went unnoticed by Child.

**Sonic's World, a Few Hours Later-**

"Do you _really_ think we're up for something like this Tails?" Sonic asked nervously, still holding the newspaper that the group has received ages ago. All of them had read the front page several times, and while Knuckles could honestly care less, Tails was decently curious and Sonic just couldn't get over it.

The three of them were ironically at a park, with Sonic lounging on the bench and clutching the paper while Tails and Knuckles tossed a baseball around.

"It's all up to you Sonic…" Tails pointed out. "Although, I think we should go for it…"

"Are you _kidding?_" Knuckles snorted, reaching out and catching the ball Tails had tossed. "We're_ horrible_ at baseball! And if that wasn't important, we don't even have a team!"

Sonic sighed and stared down at the newspaper's surprising words- it was definitely hot off the presses, and the headliner didn't fail to make him frown.

_Mario Fireballs Become Best!_

_After long and hard seasons throughout the years, the Mario Fireballs have finally climbed to champion status in the Mushroom Kingdom. They deserve the title, after recently beating the Bowser Monsters by a mere one point while Captain Mario finished with a very impressing, and risky, move. The final score resulted in 16-15, also leaving the Mario Fireballs with their first unbeaten season._

_Now they are scouting around for a team that can match up against them from other worlds! Any team not from the Mushroom Kingdom is dared to attempt to face off against them and see if they really are the best! If anyone can beat them, they'll receive the Baseball Champion Worlds Cup! So come and test your luck!_

Naturally, Sonic would've _loved_ to take the challenge. But there were two problems. The first, as Knuckles had stated, they were horrible at baseball and never bothered dreaming up a team. The other, less important problem…Sonic couldn't even say. It was…just embarrassing…

Now, he had rounded up Tails and Knuckles and asked their opinions. Tails wanted to go for it, and Knuckles thought the exact opposite.

"I bet there are plenty of other people across the worlds who'd want to go up against Mario!" Knuckles continued to protest. "Why should we go?"

"Knuckles, I bet three-fourths of the worlds out there don't even know what the sport is…" trailed Tails.

Sonic folded his arms and tapped his foot in thought. "I say we should at least give them a run for their money- I mean, we're not that bad!"

"Please Knuckles?" Tails pleaded with large blue eyes. "You'd be our best hitter!"

"No."

Sonic sighed and shook his head. "That's a shame Knuckles…cause then you'd actually be better than me at something…"

Knuckles perked up as he caught the ball Tails tossed back.

"Okay, well, _maybe_ I'll think about it…but you'd better throw together some incredible team!"

Sonic grinned, giving a thumbs up. "No problem!"

**Minutes later-**

Sonic had gathered Amy, Cream, Rouge, Shadow, Silver, Blaze and Rouge at Tails' Workshop. Knuckles took one glance at everyone who strolled in and forcibly smacked his head.

"What's this all about anyway, Sonic?" Silver questioned, scratching one of his ears.

"It better be important too!" called Rouge.

Sonic clasped his hands together and smirked. "The reason we've gathered here today is…well, do you guys wanna play baseball?"

Everyone stayed silent, though it wasn't long until Shadow threw in his two cents.

"You wasted a good chunk of my precious life to ask me a question you should already know the answer to?"

"What? It's just an innocent game of baseball!"

"But we're not very good at baseball…" Cream pointed out. Knuckles threw up his hands.

"I told you! See? There's no _way_ we should go up against Mario's team-"

"Did you just say Mario?" Amy exclaimed, suddenly standing up and pumping a fist into the air. "I say we go there and beat them at their own game!"

"Yeah! We'll beat them, then we'll brag about it, and never let them hear the end of it!" Rouge added.

Knuckles groaned. "You weren't supposed to_ agree_ with it!"

"Are you all in? Because I just finished talking to Natalie and she says we have to fill out forms if we're playing…" Tails explained, returning to the room with a stack of paper.

"I'm in!" shouted Amy.

"I guess…" sighed Silver.

"Hmph! Fine…If I must…" muttered Shadow.

"I really wish I wasn't…" Knuckles grunted. Sonic slugged him on the back.

"That's the spirit! Now let's get these things signed…"

Everyone took a paper and started to fill it out.

_**Tails-**__  
Star Pitch: Flying High  
Star Swing: Wrenching Blow  
Side Note: More of an all-around character, but can catch home run balls with ease!  
Stats:  
Pitch 7/10  
Bat 6/10  
Field 9/10  
Run 7/10_

_Uh, hi. I'm Tails! I think baseball is fun, but losing really isn't though… As long as Sonic's gonna go for it just for fun, then I guess I'm in too! I get the feeling though that Sonic doesn't want to do it though…I wonder why! After all, he really wants to go, but I can just sense something more under the surface. I hope whatever it is, it doesn't affect his game…_

_**Shadow-  
**__Star Pitch: Chaos Spear  
Star Swing: Chaos Control  
Side note: A mostly well-rounded character. Decently skilled in everything, but hardly has an advantage- just in speed.  
Stats:  
Pitch 7/10  
Bat 7/10  
Field 6/10  
Run 9/10_

_Grr. I don't want to do this. I'm only doing it to destroy Wario with my amazing skills! Mwahahahaha! Though I already predict we're going to lose. If it was only me on the team, it'd be a given win!_

_**Blaze-  
**__Star Pitch: Fire Tornado Ball  
Star Swing: Fire Tornado Swing  
Side Note: Great pitcher and good runner  
Stats:  
Pitch 9/10  
Bat 6/10  
Field 5/10  
Run 7/10_

_Daisy. Is. Going. DOWN! …and I have nothing better to do today…_

_**Amy-  
**__Star Pitch: Love Ball  
Star Swing: Piko-Piko Pounder  
Side note: Her "bat" is excellent, but is more likely to foul.  
Stats:  
Pitch 8/10  
Bat 7/10  
Field 4/10  
Run 8/10_

_I'm always up for baseball- and I'll do it because Sonic seemed really desperate for people to play… Peach thinks she's all that just because she's some kind of super athlete, but I'll show her! I'LL SHOW HER! I can hit and pitch too, ya know! Rah…she won't see me coming!_

_**Rouge-  
**__Star Pitch: Distraction Ball  
Star Swing: Distraction Swing  
Side Note: A very well-rounded character. Only a slight advantage in the field.  
Stats:  
Pitch 7/10  
Bat 6/10  
Field 8/10  
Run 6/10_

…_I was bored…who knows, maybe I'll get some treasure out of it! After all, there are some gorgeous baubles in the Mushroom Kingdom!_

_**Silver-  
**__Star Pitch: Psychic Stop  
Star Swing: Psychic Freeze  
Side note: A marvelous fielder, not-so good runner...  
Stats:  
Pitch 7/10  
Bat 6/10  
Field 8/10  
Run 4/10_

_Baseball isn't around in the future, and I'm actually interested in playing. I've heard about the sport through books, but it just doesn't seem fun to anyone anymore…I'm willing to try it though. Besides, I DO owe Sonic a thing or two…it can't be that bad, can it?_

_**Cream-  
**__Star Pitch: Cheesy Ball  
Star Swing: Kidness Swing  
Side note: No advantages, but no disadvantages  
Stats:  
Pitch 6/10  
Bat 6/10  
Field 6/10  
Run 6/10_

_I'm so excited to play baseball again! I don't mind if we win or not- Sonic says we'll attempt to have a good time no matter what! Maybe Mr. Toad will give me a few pointers too! He's really nice like that! But they are undefeated…Oh, I'm a little nervous too…_

_**Knuckles-  
**__Star Pitch: Knuckle Ball  
Star Pitch Knuckle Swing  
Side Note: Extreme power in his arms makes him an incredible pitcher and batter, though he can't catch well and could be faster.  
Stats:  
Pitch 9/10  
Bat 10/10  
Field 4/10  
Run 3/10_

_I'm only in this to beat Sonic at baseball! Despite the fact we'll be on the same team, but well…uh…you know what I mean. I'm an incredible hitter and a pitcher, which makes me just about the best player on the team! My speed isn't good though- but since when is baseball about being fast? Though, I wonder why Sonic automatically said I was better at baseball- he never does that unless his ego is shot!_

_**Sonic-  
**__Team Name: Sonic Blurs  
Star Pitch: Whirlwind Pitch  
Star Swing: Whirlwind Swing  
Side Note: An average player who can't be beaten in running, and has a very decent glove, but his batting leave something to be desired...  
Stats:  
Pitch 5/10  
Bat 1/10  
Field 8/10  
Run 10/10_

_Baseball's an okay sport, but it's not something I'd do for an entire season! Especially since…oh man…I can't hit. The one and only time I played baseball I bunted it, and that's like taking the easy way out! I'm so glad nobody noticed…but I tried practicing at a random batting cage once, and I couldn't even hit_ one_! Then there's all-star Knuckles…getting home runs just by tapping the ball…I'd ask him to help me, but then he'd take advantage of the situation and mock me. And sure, I'm fast enough to run around all the bases, but how can I do that if I can't even hit in the first place? Please don't tell anyone I'm a terrible batter…I'm already going to embarrass myself…_

**Back at MS Station-**

Child was still tapping away on the computer, growing increasingly more excited with every word she plunked out. The paper she had written early had already reached Sonic and company, and all she needed now was confirmation that Sonic's team would agree to the match.

Luckily she didn't have to wait long, for Natalie emerged from the elevator and plunked a bunch of papers onto Child's desk.

"There you go," Natalie grinned, handed Child the form that Sonic had filled out. "Everyone agreed, and your ridiculous plan can be put into action! Sonic's not looking too arrogant now though, is he?"

"It's not a ridiculous plan," Child huffed back, snatching the form from Natalie and grimacing. "Is it such a crime that I want people I care about to have fun, rather than them fueling up a rivalry of hatred that could sever their ties forever?"

"The irony is bitter," Natalie sneered, whirling away and stalking off. Child coughed and the younger girl stopped in her tracks.

"Where are you going?"

"…nowhere," Natalie lied. "Why?"

"Hello? A Mario and Sonic outing? We've got to be there to supervise that it goes well!" Child explained, already standing and heading out the door.

"No- you need to be there," Natalie corrected. "You've already made it painstakingly clear before than I'm not responsible for Mario or Sonic."

"Duh," Child scoffed, grabbing Natalie's wrist and pulling her out the door. "You're coming to keep score!"

"Ew! Why?"

"Because I'm being umpire! It'll be fun!"

"I don't want to go-" Natalie continued to insist, but they were already crossing into the territory Mario's world and therefore, she no longer had a choice in the matter.

**Mario World, Next Day-**

Mario woke up the next morning to find himself sleeping with his red baseball bat. Wow, were they into the sport that much nowadays? Urgh…no wonder he had a slight kink in his back… he poked his head over the side of the top bunk, seeing Luigi sleeping soundly with his glove. Mario sweat dropped. Apparently they _were_ letting it all go to their heads…

_"But I don't need to worry anymore…"_ Mario thought to himself after picking the newspaper up from outside that the Paper-Toad just threw. _"Our season's over, and I've beaten everyone that can be beaten…"_

He brought the paper to the bathroom and started reading it.

**Three minutes later-**

"YOU'VE-A GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!"

The shout was enough to wake Luigi up, who rushed out of bed in his green footie pajamas, tripped over a baseball, got back up, and frantically pounded at the bathroom door.

"Big Bro.! Is it the Toilet Bunny again!" he screeched.

"What? No…wait, what do you mean by 'again'?" Mario called from the other side. "...Oh, never mind. You have to read this!"

The newspaper was slid under the door crack, and Luigi picked it up.

"I don't see the prob- _ooooooo,_ never mind then…

It was the same passage from Sonic's newspaper yesterday, but it had been modified with a few extra lines:

_Word is, Sonic the Hedgehog's baseball team, the Sonic Blurs, is the first to challenge Mario and there are plans for a game either today or tomorrow! With how eager this plucky team seemed, it wouldn't be surprising if they came around the day you get this paper! The Mario Fireballs might want to look out! The game is said to be held at Mario Stadium, all 9 full innings, no items, and no mercy! So come on down if you're willing to see the game of the millennium!_

"Luigi, do you remember any of us daring other world people to a game of baseball?" Mario wondered when he came out.

"I don't even think Wario and Waluigi are stupid enough to do that…"

Mario and Luigi stared at the paper for the longest time.

"So…"

"I guess we're going to a game we supposedly asked for!" exclaimed the older plumber.

"Hooray! Another game of baseball!" cheered Luigi.

Mario, however, wasn't looking so enthused.

. . .

Later, the Mario Bros. explained to Peach about the unexpected baseball game, but the princess wasn't upset at all. She instantly called up everyone, and after hearing about more baseball, rushed to Mario Stadium at once. No one complained- and they were even actually looking forward to it! Mario decided to get into the spirit and eventually got pumped too.

**Meanwhile-**

"Oooh! I'm so excited!" Amy squealed, running around in her Summer Olympics outfit. "I have a great feeling about this game!"

"I don't," Shadow stated simply.

They were all gathered on the other side of the stadium, discussing a game plan. Stunningly, Knuckles was the one giving the pep speech.

"Okay Blurs! We know we're not the best, we know we suck, and we know that we hardly have even a sliver of hope…but if we combine our talents, we can at least_ try_ and get a couple runs- and not ones just made by me, either!"

"Where's the captain? Shouldn't he be giving the speech?" Blaze questioned. Knuckles made a face.

"I made a very good speech, thank you very much... Our "captain" is flipping the coin to see who gets to bat first!"

. . .

Mario entered the dugout, where Sonic was already waiting with a perplexed face.

"Hey Mario!" he called, a bit too casual for comfort. Mario cocked his head.

"What's up with you? The paper said you guys were "eager and plucky"…"

Sonic shrugged and nervously poked his fingers together. "Must just be me then…"

"Oh…well, good luck today, I suppose?"

He stuck out his hand, which Sonic accepted and shook.

"Yeah, we'll sure need it…" he mumbled.

"What do you mean?"

Sonic released Mario's hand and scratched the back of his head. "Well, we're not really known for baseball, if ya catch my drift…"

Mario instantly became bemused. "…oh wow…then why did you guys decide to do this?"

The hedgehog shrugged. "I just wanted to come and at least try to have fun. We're not _horrible_…we just aren't exactly cut out for the sport…"

Before Mario could respond, the umpire quickly ran into the dugout.

"Sorry I'm late! Really…I actually wasn't sure if I should come or not-"

"What're you doing here?" Sonic groaned after catching sight of the arriving girl. She braked to a stop in front of the heroes and grinned.

"_I'm_ the umpire!" Child exclaimed, clasping her hands together excitedly.

"What happened to Lakitu?" asked Mario, and Sonic noted that the color completely drained from the girl's face.

"Let's say it was a cloudburst of an incident, courtesy of my sister …and speaking of Nat, she's keeping score over there. See?"

Mario and Sonic glanced over their shoulders to see Natalie struggling to get the sign all reset. She saw them staring and waved.

"Some Universal Manager..." murmured Mario.

"So you're umpiring?" Sonic moaned, turning back to Child. Child nodded softly, titling her head in retaliation.

"Yeah…why, is there a problem with that?"

"N-no…" _"You'll end up seeing me bat…"_

Child gave a nod, reached into her pocket, and pulled out a coin. "Good. Now call it!"

"Tails!"

Mario waved a hand. "Heads, then…"

Child tossed the coin in the air, then caught it on her palm. "…heads. Mario, you'll be up to bat. And another thing, everyone has to pitch for one inning, so no one is pitcher more than once."

"That seems fair," noted Mario.

Sonic actually had to force a smile. "Yeah…"

Child smiled and gave them a salute. "Good luck to both of you!"

She threw on her umpire mask and skipped out to the field while the two captains had a brief stare down.

"You ready for this?" Mario asked, also not the only one to sense Sonic's insecurity. Sonic nodded, this time with a little more vibrancy.

"You'd better believe it! Bring it on!"

Mario smirked and adjusted his cap. "The let's-a play ball…"

He ran off to get his team, Sonic looking back unsurely before running off and doing the same. Whatever he had gotten himself into, he was going to have to accept the consequences.


	2. First Inning

Mario vs. Sonic in a Game of Baseball

First Inning

_First Inning Top- Fireballs hitting, Blurs pitching_  
_Next Three Up To Bat- Mario, Peach, Wario_  
_First Inning Sonic Pitcher: Rouge the Bat_  
_Fielding Positions: Tails, Silver, and Blaze in outfield, Sonic left field, Shadow right field, Amy home base, Cream first base, and Knuckles third base._

"I'm just going to get this over with…" Rouge sighed while sauntering out onto the field with a stylish baseball glove. A couple of fans, taking the advice in the newspaper, had already filled half the stadium, and people were _still_ coming. Child had a firm position as umpire while Natalie dangled her legs casually on the scoreboard. Sonic confidently strolled into left field- he was a good catcher, he could handle that at least. Shadow stood not too far away from him, striking a pose of boredom.

"Lighten up a little Shadow!" Sonic called out to his rival as he stretched his arms.

"Make me."

Sonic put his hands up and took a few extra steps away, readying himself for when the game really got going. Moments later, Mario was up to bat first, with a concentrated look in his eyes.

_"This won't be a challenge…"_ he hummed to himself, hoisting his bat over his shoulder. More likely, he _hoped_ to himself. Rouge wound up the pitch and threw a fast one straight into Amy's glove.

"Strike one!" Child announced. Rouge instantly celebrated.

"All right! I gave a strike!"

"It's just one, Rouge; don't be celebrating yet…" Knuckles sighed. Rouge gave a sneer in return while she pitched again. Mario swung with perfect timing and made contact with the ball. It whizzed straight down the center of the field, right toward Tails who was looking a bit dazed. Mario didn't pay attention to where the ball was headed and simply took off for first base.

"Go for it, Tails!" Sonic shouted. Tails briefly shook his head to get himself to focus and ran forward. He wasn't going to make it to the ball- it was going to land two feet in front of him!

"No!"

The sudden outburst coursed through his body, his brain telling his tails to rapidly spin for a boost. Tails jetted forward and the ball landed in his outstretched glove. The fox collapsed into the grass unceremoniously as Child threw her hand into the air.

"That's an out!"

"What?" Mario yelped, his heels digging into the dirt just before reaching the first base.

"Hey! I did it!" Tails cheered, starting to dance around in the field.

"I know you're happy hon, but I still need the ball back…" Rouge stated, leaning forward and holding her glove out. Tails blushed embarrassedly and tossed it back.

"Oops…"

While Mario stomped angrily back to the dugout, Peach twirled up to bat.

"Give it your best shot, princess!" Rouge mocked, using her Star Pitch. Rouge spun around, giving a wink and striking a pose before softly tossing the ball. Peach found herself unable to hit the ball because, well, she was simply distracted by it.

"Strike one!"

"Get your heart into it Peach!" Mario called.

"Don't fall for her really weird tricks!" added Yoshi. Peach smirked, tightening her bat grip. Rouge spun the ball on her finger before throwing it, and was surprised to see Peach start dancing around doing a chant.

"Woo hoo!" she cried before giving the ball a hearty whack- in more ways than one. The heart-surrounded ball flew over Sonic's love-struck head, landed on the ground, and smitten Silver just stared at it. Peach giggled while rounding first and rocketing to second.

"Come on Silver!" yelled Blaze.

Silver finally shook off Peach's Star Power, grabbed the ball, and threw it as hard as he could to third base. It blasted toward Knuckles with a neon green glow, and the echidna was ready to catch it. Peach instantly braked and ran back for second and remained safe.

"Nice play…" Child pointed out as Wario went up to bat. Shadow suddenly had a reason for playing again. Rouge sighed and simply tossed the ball, which Wario swung at with all his might. The ball was sent flying, and Shadow had every intention to catch it. However, it was headed for Sonic's part of the field, and Sonic was preparing to jump up, catch it, and throw it to Knuckles.

"Outta my way Sonic!" Shadow shouted, bulldozing his own teammate over and catching the ball proudly.

"Fair!" called Child. Wario cackled loudly as the fielders glared at Shadow.

"Throw it already!" Amy cried. Shadow growled and Chaos Controlled the ball to Cream, just before Wario made it to first base. However, Peach had gained a run for her team in the meantime.

"Way to go Peach!" shouted Daisy. Everyone else strained to tell Wario it was a nice try. Wario just snorted in response.

"Wario get them next time…"

Sonic impatiently tapped his foot as Shadow returned to his position.

"Nice going Shadow! If you were Knuckles, I'd be calling you a knucklehead!"

A loud "HEY!" came from third base. Shadow just scoffed.

"I got him out didn't I? One more and we're up to bat!"

"Yes, and what are the odds we're actually going to get a hit?"

"Well, you do have ME on the team…"

Sonic's forehead fell into both of his palms. "Oh brother..."

Rouge gave them a hiss before she used a change-up on DK. This was, however, DK's easiest thing to hit as he brought his mighty fist in contact with the meager ball. The sheer strength sent it flying toward home run territory. Blaze and Silver just stared at the ball as DK started for first base.

"Get ready to catch it!" Tails told them.

"How?"

"Buddy jump!" Silver cried, jumping off Blaze's head and reaching out for the ball. It _just_ skimmed his glove and easily crossed the fence.

"Home run!" Natalie cheered as she changed the score to be 2-0. When Silver came back down from the air, everyone gave him looks.

"What? At least I tried! I usually am a good fielder..."

"Couldn't you have grabbed it psychically or something?" question Blaze. Silver sweat dropped.

"You know, I hadn't thought of that…"

Mario's team congratulated DK when he came back while Toad dragged his bat up to the plate. Rouge gave an amused chuckle.

"This should be an easy out…"

She carelessly tossed the ball, throwing it just out of Toad's hitting range.

"Ball 1!" Child stated.

"Get into it, Rouge!" barked Amy. Rouge growled and threw the ball straight over Toad's head.

"Ball 2!"

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

Rouge bent over backwards, in a similar state to Tiny Kong, then slugged the ball in a perfect and direct line over the plate. Toad swung, struck the ball, sent it toward Cream's part of the field, and just missed the foul line.

"Fair!"

Cream shrieked and ran for the ball as Shadow took over her first base position.

"C'mon Cream!" "Run faster Toad!"

"I should've worn other pants…" Toad panted, nearly tripping again. Cream finally reached the ball, but Toad was skidding onto first base by the time she turned around.

"Aww…"

"Nice try sweetie…" Rouge said, catching the ball a disappointed Cream tossed. The female bat turned back to home plate and sneered, "Who's up next?"

Yoshi happily skipped up, his green bat with an egg symbol ready for smacking.

"Yoshi!"

Rouge sighed and pitched, Yoshi swung a bit early and missed.

"Strike one!"

Amy gave the ball back to Rouge, and Yoshi tried again. This time, he started cheering and hit the ball, transforming it into an egg and bouncing it around in rainbow arcs.

"Yoshi Rainbow Ball- the secret weapon…" Luigi chuckled. It bounced toward Rouge, then rolled past Shadow, and made a final hop at Sonic's feet before turning back into a ball and rolling toward Tails. Tails scooped it up and saw Yoshi already almost at first base, but Toad struggling to reach second.

"Sonic!"

He threw the ball, aimed at second base, and with the combination of Sonic's speed and catching ability, they managed to get Toad out.

Child threw up her hands. "Three outs! Change sides!"

_First Inning Bottom- Blurs hitting, Fireballs pitching_  
_Next Three Up To Bat- Blaze, Knuckles, Amy_  
_First Inning Mario Pitcher: Donkey Kong_  
_Fielding Positions: Waluigi, Daisy, and Peach in outfield, Mario left field, Luigi right field, Yoshi home base, Toad first base, and Wario third base._

"Thank rings I'm not hitting first…" Sonic told himself quietly as Blaze headed up to bat. DK gave a broad grin before whizzing the ball right past Blaze and landing firmly in Yoshi's glove.

"Strike 1!"

Blaze gulped. DK wound his arm around to prepare for another dangerous pitch. It was another fast ball, which Blaze swung too late for.

"Strike 2!"

"You can do it Blaze!" Silver called.

"Pull off some crazy tricks like they are!" cried Amy. Blaze gave a solid "hm" in response. She narrowed her eyes in concentration as DK chucked the sucker straight toward the plate.

"HI-YAH!"

Blaze suddenly lit up in fire, spinning in a rapid tornado. Her bat could be seen sticking out -it must've been fire proof- and made contact with DK's ball. With a sickening crack, it soared over Mario's head, leaving a slight scorch mark on his hat. Blaze came out of the tornado and started sprinting for first as Waluigi went for the ball. It landed in the grass just before he attempted a dive for it. The skinny plumber scooped the ball up and threw it to first base anyway. Toad was hardly ready for the ball, so Blaze took off for second. The ball hit Toad in the head, but he felt it plop in his glove anyway and sluggishly tossed it toward second. Luigi intercepted the throw and ran for Blaze, catching up quite quickly.

"Get 'er Luigi!" exclaimed Mario, not too far away from the action. This tipped Blaze off that someone was after her, so she fired up her tornado, scaring Luigi off as she landed on second base safely. The Blurs jumped up in praise and cheers while Wario reminded them with a snort she was only at second base.

"That's probably as far as we're ever going to get…" mumbled Shadow.

"Oh, I dunno…" Knuckles defended with a smug look, his bat swung over his shoulder.

Sonic looked on in envy as he muttered, "This'll be a homer…"

Knuckles confidently went up to bat, expecting a fast ball and planning to swing quickly. However, when DK released the ball, it went surprisingly slow and Knuckles missed the hit entirely.

"Strike one!"

"He tricked me!" Knuckles shouted angrily, shaking a fist afterward. DK just gave his big grin and struck a pose. In retaliation, Knuckles bared his fangs and felt his grip tightened on his bat. "I won't miss this time…"

DK pitched again, and this time Knuckles used a split-second to determine when he should swing.

"Now!" shrieked Tails.

Knuckles brought the bat around instantly, making full-force contact as the ball sailed away like a white comet in the sky. Knuckles tossed the bat over his shoulder as he took off at a leisurely pace. His ball went over the fence terribly quickly- Peach and Daisy didn't even have a chance to perform a Buddy jump.

"Two Home Runs!" Natalie cried excitedly, tying up the score. Blaze crossed home base as Knuckles continued his jog around the bases, everyone cheering loudly for him. When he returned to the dug-out, he was constantly slapped on the back, punched on the shoulder, and was even thrown in the air.

"Calm down! We haven't won yet!" Amy scoffed while bringing her hammer up to bat. DK grunted while pitching, Amy swinging the second she could and forcibly sent the ball flying into the stands. She cringed as a pained scream cried out while someone else cheered that they caught a foul ball.

"Okay, um, that's definitely a foul…" Child trailed. Amy stuck up her nose and prepared her hammer again.

"Well sorry that's such a bad thing!"

"It does count as a strike, you know…"

Amy muttered something under her breath. DK used his Star Pitch and threw a barrel at Amy.

"What the-?"

She swung anyway, breaking the barrel and causing the ball to fly right into Mario's glove.

"Out!"

"He tried to toss a deadly object at me!" Amy shrieked erratically.

"(It was just a barrel…)" DK scoffed.

"…and now I've disappointed my dear Sonic!" she wailed, falling onto her hero's lap. Sonic just gave a nervous laugh and sweat dropped.

_"No one could be more disappointing than me…"_

Shadow walked emotionlessly up to the plate next, barely holding onto his bat.

"You'd better try Shadow…" Rouge warned, Shadow only grunting in reply. DK performed a change-up, but that didn't faze Shadow at all.

"Chaos Control!" he cried just before hitting the ball. It disappeared, only to return in a completely random spot.

"Where'd it go? Where'd it go!" whimpered Luigi. Everyone in the field frantically ran around for the ball, only for it to eventually conk Wario in the back of the head. Shadow stopped half-way to second base to cackle as Wario flopped onto the ground. Obviously he intended for that to happen.

"Shadow, it's not that funny!" Sonic snapped. Shadow had also fallen to the ground, but in laughter.

"Oh man, that was too good!"

"That's the only time I've ever seen him laugh…" Silver deadpanned.

Wario proceeded to get off the ground, and after given a very dark glare to Shadow, picked up the ball and blasted it to Shadow via a fart.

"Move, Shadow, move!" his entire team cried.

Shadow just laughed even harder. Heads were smacked.

"This is a sign of the end of the world…"

The ball plowed into Shadow's stomach, cutting his next chuckle off abruptly. The stench of the ball also caused him to gag and sputter on his own breath.

"Wah ha ha! Next time, don't mess with Wario!"

"I…GAG…hate you so much…ack ack…"

Child huffed and shook her head. "Out…"

The Blurs groaned as Shadow stumbled back to the dugout. Rouge stuck her nose up in disgust.

"I'm not hitting unless we get a new ball…that was just plain gross."

Wario shrugged. "Had to do what I had to do…"

Tails tossed DK another ball as Rouge assumed a batting position. The gorilla pitched as Rouge smirked.

"Better behave yourselves!" she taunted while using her Distraction Swing. Every male on the field instantly started drooling at the ball, which Rouge couldn't help but chuckle at. Peach and Daisy were the only ones immune as they scurried to get the ball before she rounded the bases.

"Go Rouge! Go Rouge!"

As the ball got farther away from people, the less they were distracted. It eventually got so far away into the field that Yoshi was freed of the trance. Peach grabbed the ball and quickly passed it to Daisy, who cried out to Yoshi before chucking the ball at him with a Buddy Throw. Rouge had no care in the world as she glided from base the base, just now reaching third and heading for home. The Blurs cried out for her to move faster, but as soon as she opened her eyes, Rouge saw Yoshi catch the ball at home base and started back for third.

"I can't look!" Cream cried, hiding her face in her hands. Rouge flew like a torpedo back to third, but her flight was no match for Yoshi's arm. Without warning, the ball plowed into Rouge's side at full force, sending her skidding into the ground. The rest of the Fireballs snapped out of their trance and saw Rouge in a heap on the ground, ball still making contact with her. Yoshi cheered at his excellent play while the other team worried about Rouge. However, she stood back up without any complaints or grunts of pain- maybe a mark, but nothing more than that.

"…Three Outs. Changes sides." Child ordered quietly.

"Score's still 2-2! Clearly it's anyone's game!" Natalie shouted, trying to raise spirits. "Second inning, here we go!"

Mario's team eagerly ran off the field, discussing the first inning with vivid conversation.

"I can't believe we pulled that off!" Peach exclaimed.

"I know! I'm so glad Yoshi snapped out of it in time!" added Daisy. Yoshi struck a cocky pose.

"I could've caught that ball…" huffed Waluigi.

"And I shouldn't have gotten hit!" growled Wario. "We'll get them-a next time!"

Mario ran ahead of his team, turning around and stopping them for the moment. "Remember guys, we'd better try even harder if we're going to win this. They might _think_ they're terrible, but I know they're capable of at least giving us a run for our money-"

"Money! Where!" Wario exclaimed. DK stopped him as Toad said that was just an expression.

Meanwhile, Sonic's team was heading back to the field in a discouraged fashion.

"Why are you guys so glum? At least we tied!" Cream pointed out, trying to raise the morale.

"Yeah, thanks to Knuckles' one and only hit and Blaze miraculously making it to second base…" sighed Silver.

"Maybe we would've had another run if Shadow didn't pull that simply** hilarious** prank!" Amy hissed.

"I will not accept any blame for my hatred of Wario."

"Oh you jerk!"

"Guys! Arguing certainly not going to help us any!" Tails exclaimed. As he, Cream, and eventually Blaze tried to get the team to stop bickering, Sonic noticed Rouge attempting to go to first base, as she wasn't allowed to pitch again.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Rouge glanced over her shoulder and gave a simple nod.

"Y-Yeah…the ball didn't hurt or anything, but it just was more of a shock, you know?"

Sonic nodded- he had similar experiences in his time, just not with baseballs. As Rouge perked up the slightest bit, Sonic's confident began to deplete.

He'd be hitting for sure next inning.


	3. Second Inning

Mario vs. Sonic in a Game of Baseball

Second Inning

_Second Inning Top- Fireballs hitting, Blurs pitching_

_Next Three Up To Bat- Luigi, Daisy, Waluigi_

_Second Inning Sonic Pitcher: Amy Rose_

_Fielding Positions: Sonic, Tails, and Silver in outfield, Blaze left field, Knuckles right field, Cream home base, Rouge first base, and Shadow third base._

"Like I've said before, I'm a much better pitcher…" Amy giggled while a timid Luigi strolled up with his bat. She threw the ball out on a limb…and accidentally beaned Luigi.

"Bean Ball! Hitter walks to first base!" called Child. Amy smacked her head as Luigi staggered to first. Daisy huffed up to the plate, an odd snarl on her face.

"You'll pay for hurting Luigi!"

Amy let out an unintended laugh. "Oh really?"

She spun around, tossing the ball toward Daisy.

"Hrrr…"

She held the bat straight in front of her body, then thrust it forward, the end gaining petals. With a flowery swing, Daisy hit the ball, aiming it straight for Blaze. The cat just had to stand there and wait for the ball. Mario sighed- that was always Daisy's flaw. Just then, a garden of flowers surrounded Blaze and she lost sight of the ball after miscalculating where it would land.

"Go Luigi!" the princess cried. Luigi gulped and started for second. Knuckles ran to the second base in hopes of getting Luigi out.

"Get that ball Blaze!" Shadow seethed through his teeth. Blaze sent his a scowl darker than him as she located the ball and threw it to Knuckles.

"Naaaahh!"

Luigi dove forward, the very tip of his glove touching the plate right as Knuckles caught the ball.

"Safe!"

Daisy jumped up in cheerleader style.

"Woo-hoo!"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Ugh, she needs to get over herself…hey! WATCH THIS SONIC!"

Sonic sighed and hung his head- again. Waluigi cackled, grabbing his own bat.

"Waluigi time!"

"_Amy_ time!"

She threw the ball straight upwards, twirled her hammer in the shape of a heart, then batted the ball toward Waluigi. Waluigi attempted to swing, but the ball soared toward him in a repeating heart formation.

"Strike 1!"

"That's how it's done!" Amy laughed, receiving the ball from Cream. Waluigi just spit in in response. "Someone's a sorry sport…"

She heaved the ball, which Waluigi hit without a problem. It went high enough for a home run, but went too far too the right making it a foul.

"Strike 2!"

Waluigi groaned. Amy did a small dance.

"Quit bragging and pitch that dumb ball already!"

"I'll pitch it all right!"

Amy threw the ball full force, accidentally curving it and hitting Waluigi in the face.

"Bean Ball! Hitter takes first base!"

"Amy, if you keep beaning people, we'll be in bean soup!" Silver called.

"Okay, leave the lame puns to me next time…" Sonic trailed.

"Well look at her! She just loaded all the bases for Mario!"

"…that's bad…"

"Don't you dare let them get a grand slam Amy!" Rouge yelped. Amy gulped while Mario returned to the plate for a second time, a smug gleam shining in his eyes.

"Get a home run Mario!" Peach prayed.

"You can do it!" cheered Toad and Yoshi. Mario tipped his hat and prepared his swing. Amy gave a determined groan before throwing a fast ball. Mario expected that and charged up his Star Swing, cracking the ball in flames in an upward direction. Luigi bolted from third, Daisy ran from second, and Waluigi headed off from first. The ball was a comet of fire soaring over the field's center line.

"Get ready to catch that Tails!" Sonic called putting his hands in position for a Buddy Jump. His little bro. quickly jumped into Sonic's hands and was propelled into the air. Mario saw Tails flying for the ball and gasped.

_"He's-a gonna get me out again!"_

The flames surrounding the ball died down as Tails flew up to catch the ball. It landed snugly in his mitt as Mario stomped the ground angrily.

"Out!"

"Way to go Tails!" "Throw it again!"

Tails let out a squeak of surprise. With a mid-air flip, he sent the ball flying toward home as Daisy approached it. Knuckles was all set and ready to catch the ball, but at the last second, Daisy "accidentally" kicked him out of the way and was safe. Knuckles still got hold of the ball and threatened to throw it at Waluigi, but he was smart enough to stay at third.

"Aw…" Tails moaned as he returned back to the ground. Sonic gave him a pat on the back.

"Whaddya mean "aw"? You just struck out Mario-again! That's definitely worth having pride for!"

"But they have two more runs…" Tails stated, pointing to Natalie changing the score once more to 4-2. Sonic shrugged.

"Don't let that get in our way then."

Peach twirled back up to bat, the princess returning the glare Amy was sending her.

"I'm going to hit this so hard…" Peach started to say. Amy place a hand on her hip and dropped her jaw.

"Oh no you didn't!"

She threw the ball at Peach- literally, at Peach- and hit her in the hip. Child smacked her head.

"Bean ball. Hitter takes first base."

Peach smirked, her plan had work. When Amy saw the look on Peach's face, she knew she had been tricked.

"UUUGGHH!"

Wario waddled up to bat, daring Amy to hit him. Amy narrowed her eyes and threw Wario's first two balls at sonic-speed right over the base. The third pitch was a bit too curved and ended up being a ball. The hedgehog snorted as Wario stuck his tongue out at her. Amy charged up her Star Pitch, but threw another ball when it went out of range again.

"Ball 2! 2 Strikes! 1 Out!"

"Must you announce all that?" groaned Amy. She tried the Star Pitch again, but it was another ball.

"Ball 3!"

"Amy!!!"

"What!? I'm trying!"

Wario cackled loudly. "Wah ha! I don't even hafta swing!"

That made Amy's eyes light up in fire. With a brief pause in her pitching form, she chucked the ball towards Wario…but it ricocheted off Wario's nose.

"Bean ball…batter go to first…"

Amy had a meltdown and collapsed on the pitcher's mound. She was in sweat drop mode.

"Bases are loaded once more!" Natalie shouted from her bird's eye view point. DK pumped up his fists while his team cheered him on. Amy took a deep breath and pitched. DK made home run contact. It headed for Silver's part of the field, but it landed on the other side of the fence without giving him a chance to catch it.

"Grand Slam!"

"Holy holy…" Natalie breathed, making the score 8-2. Amy fell again and buried her face in her hands.

"Don't cry…please…it's only a baseball game, after all."

Amy glanced up to see Toad up at bat, a small smile on his face. She was about to shout to her team to get out the next batter, but it _was_ Toad…either she'd let him slide or he'd get out anyway because it was, well, Toad. Amy pitched with less force and more precision than done previously and Toad ended up bunting it. He made it safely to first base, on account of they certainly weren't expecting that. Yoshi was up next, and Amy had a good feeling about this pitch. She gave it a medium-speed toss, and Yoshi hit it straight for Amy. Amy ducked and allowed Knuckles at second base to catch the ball, getting Yoshi out, then threw the ball back at first to get Toad out.

"Double play! 3 outs! Change sides!"

Once again, Knuckles was swamped with attention. Knuckles struck an athlete pose while Sonic rolled his eyes.

_Second Inning Bottom- Blurs hitting, Fireballs pitching_

_Next Three Up To Bat- Tails, Sonic, Silver_

_Second Inning Mario Pitcher: Princess Peach_

_Fielding Positions: Wario, Waluigi, and Daisy in outfield, DK left field, Mario right field, Luigi home base, Yoshi first base, and Toad third base._

"Let's go Tails!" cheered Knuckles.

"We've gotta catch up!" added Cream.

Tails gave a nervous nod. "I'll do my best!"

He trotted to the plate, a look of some courage on his face, but melted away when he saw Peach up to bat. He'd heard she was the Fireball's best pitcher.

Tails took a deep breath. "I can do it…"

Peach gave a wink before spinning like a ballerina and flinging the ball at Tails. It whirled right by him, not giving the opportunity to swing.

"Strike 1!"

Tails gritted his teeth, remembering not to let it get him down. Peach kissed the ball, causing it to light up in sparkles and covered it up in hearts as it was pitched to Tails.

"Looks like he was blinded by love!" Daisy guffawed as Tails couldn't even see where he was hitting.

"Strike 2."

Tails frowned. One more, and he'd be out!

_"I'm going on a whim here…"_

Peach pitched a bit softer this time, which was just what Tails needed. Time seemed to stop as Tails' bat touch the ball and sent it sky-rocketing in-between Waluigi and Daisy's area of the field. Since they had no chemistry- very bad, to be exact- they couldn't do a Buddy Jump to catch Tails' home run ball. Tails was so shocked he made a home run he almost forgot to actually run.

"Wow! Did you see that!?" he cried when he returned. Natalie changed the score to 8-3.

"Good job Tails!" Cream exclaimed.

"We might not lose after all!" Knuckles realized.

"Hey…who's up next?" wonder Rouge.

Sonic felt like he was walking into death. His cobalt blue bat dragged against the stadium's dirt, and just like Tails, Sonic recalled Peach was a tough pitcher. Best pitcher against worst hitter? Not a good combination…

"Strike 1!"

"Huh?!"

"You weren't even paying attention?" Peach gloated. "How sad."

Sonic growled. "Bring it on!"

Peach smirked. "With pleasure…"

Sonic was prepared for one of her fast-balls, which he predicted by her pitching stance. So when she threw the ball straight up for a change-up, he swung his bat as hard and as fast as he could and nearly fell. Once Sonic realized he hadn't hit anything, the ball came crashing down flat on the plate.

"…Strike 2?"

Sonic tried to find some witty phase to cover up that embarrassing swing. He gave an almost obvious fake smile as he glanced at Peach. "I dare you to try that again!"

Peach shrugged. "Oh, all right…"

Good, now Sonic was ready for this one… he casually held onto his bat, knowing the change-up was all about timing. Peach even struck a change-up pose…but changed tactics at the same time and Sonic could feel the breeze of that ball fly by him. Luigi caught the ball, his jaw dropped just like everyone else. Sonic, with an equally shocked face, swung like he originally intended, his face never faltering.

"…Strike 3...you're out…" Child gulped. The entire field got quiet. Not even Wario or Waluigi said anything. Not even Natalie had anything to input.

Of all the people to be the first to be struck out, why'd it have to be Sonic?

Sonic walked past Silver as he was getting ready to go hit. He gave Sonic an apologetic look but said nothing. Sonic didn't look at any of his team- especially Knuckles- and sat silently next to Tails. Tails didn't know what to say.

"That must be horrible…" trailed Mario.

"I'm just glad it wasn't me!" Yoshi admitted.

Peach saw Silver, but completely forgot about his psychic abilities and thought she could get by with another fast pitch. Silver grinned as his eyes lit up, along with his hands and the ball, as it came to a stop. Now in perfect position, Silver hit the ball toward left field and took off.

"DK look alive!"

"Ooo?"

He had been distracted by a flower when the ball rolled right by his glove. He hurried after it, threw it with all his might at Yoshi, but Silver was already safe. He smirked at DK.

"Nice try."

DK went mad and started pounding his chest, but Mario and Daisy had to calm him down. Cream skipped up to bat and gave pleading eyes to Peach.

"Please…don't throw the ball too hard…" Cream begged, recalling how it worked her first time playing baseball. Peach blinked and smiled.

"Um…I suppose…"

Cream smiled for thanks and readied her swing. Peach swung around, then tipped the ball upward for another change-up.

"I may not throw hard, but I'm not going easy!"

Cream gasped and swung a few seconds late.

"Strike 1!"

Peach spun around and performed another change-up. This time, Cream swung too early.

"Strike 2!"

Cream gave a small, frustrated huff, but smiled at Peach anyway.

"I think I've got it this time!" she confirmed confidently. Peach raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? Want me to throw like that again, because it appears you can't hit it!"

"Sure!"

"Oh…okay then…"

Peach spun in the opposite direction and tossed the ball up, Sonic scowling in the dug-out at how she didn't lie to _Cream_. Cream smiled brightly as she twirled around like a princess. The ball suddenly turned into a classic yellow smiley face and headed for Mario. Mario was prepared to catch it and pull off an easy double-play, but was distracted by the ball's niceness.

"…you know, I think I'll let them go to their next bases…" Mario was forced to say. Cream giggled as she ran by Peach.

"Thank you!"

"Woo!" Silver cheered, skidding onto second. Mario's team groaned as he snapped out of it.

"S-Sorry…" Mario muttered sheepishly.

"Next time don't be distracted by a ball!" Waluigi called. Mario jerked his head around and gave a laugh.

"Like you weren't mesmerized by Daisy's Star Throw…"

Waluigi stayed quiet. Blaze grabbed her bat and stepped up next. She was hardly sure if she could even hit a ball pitched by Peach anyway. Peach threw without any warning; Blaze swung on a whim. The ball erotically rolled into the field and Yoshi ran for it. He nabbed it with his tongue and prepared to throw it to first, but no one was there. He then spotted Mario at second and Cream hustling to the base.

"Yoshi!"

"I got it!"

Cream cried out as she dove for the base, landing full force on the base one second before Mario caught it.

"Safe!"

"What's with all these close plays?" complained Daisy. "Get these people out!"

Silver and Blaze landed on their bases at the exact same time while Knuckles strolled up, a confident hint in his stride. He winked at Peach as he readied the swing. Hey, it wasn't very often when he could brag about something and get away with it!

"Don't feel too bad if I hit this, okay?"

Peach rolled her eyes; it was unladylike to snort at such rational comments. She bent over backward, then like a slingshot shot the ball toward Knuckles.

"Rargh!"

Slow-motion…the bat cracked against the ball. There was no words for how fast and powerful that ball now was. Wario and Waluigi attempted to Buddy Jump, but Wario ended up jumping off Waluigi, resulting in both tumbling over and Knuckles getting a Grand Slam.

"I think he broke my back..." Waluigi groaned.

"Grand Slam! 4 home runs!" exclaimed Child. Natalie did a dance for joy as the Blurs were getting ready to light up some fire works. Yes, they were still losing 8-7, but they were catching up! And they only had one out…

Sonic sat with his arms folded across his chest, legs stretched out and eyes trying not to look at Knuckles. Silver floated happily back, Cream skipped with a broadened smile, and Blaze was just glad everything worked out. When Knuckles came back, everyone was all over him.

"Amy, you're up to bat you know…" he reminded quietly. Amy stopped congratulating Knuckles and blinked.

"Oh…right…"

Mario's mind raced in the field. "…They planned that…they knew Knuckles could hit a Grand Slam!"

"Well duh!" Luigi squeaked. "Now they're ready to tie up the score again!"

"It's only the second inning though…" Toad put out.

"I don't care! We've gotta get these people out two more times!" stated Yoshi. Peach saw Amy come up to bat and grinned.

"I can't guarantee I'll get her out though…"

"What does she mean by that!?"

"See if you can hit these!" Peach dared, lobbing many baseballs at Amy. Amy battered back everyone, except they all fouled.

"Where does she keep all those baseballs!?" Child gaped.

"That's like asking where Hammer Bro. keeps his hammers…" Luigi sighed, hoping to not get hit by one.

"Unh! Unh! Unh! Unh!" Amy grunted as she bashed away every ball. Peach finally had her in a rhythm as she purposely beaned a ball at Amy. It hit her in the shoulder, making Amy fall forward from surprise.

"Wh-What…"

"Bean Ball! Batter takes first!"

She grabbed her shoulder and stared at Peach. The princess' face read that it was a little "taste of Amy's own medicine". Amy just stuck up her nose and proudly headed to her base. Shadow, once again, strolled up in an uninterested fashion.

"I'll just get this over with…" he stated bluntly. Peach propelled her next pitch, and Shadow surprisingly hit it into possible home run territory. He vanished in a black blur as Wario and Waluigi prepared to catch the ball.

"You better-a throw me this time!" Waluigi spat. Wario roared in response as he heaved Waluigi into the air. Shadow's ball landed softly in Waluigi's glove as the hedgehog was just making it to third and Amy was crossing home, tying the score once more. Waluigi came back down as he and Wario danced in celebration.

"Out two!"

"What!? No! I swear, they've cheated!" Shadow roared as Blaze and Knuckles were forced to drag him by hand back to the dug-out. "Curse you, Wario!"

Rouge stepped up to bat once more, ready to take on the challenge known as Peach.

"Ready for this, Bat-Girl?"

"Hey! Only Knuckie can call me that!" Rouge snapped. Knuckles blushed and hid his face. Peach snapped a ball at Rouge; Rouge swung too early. Peach tossed a change-up; Rouge batted too late. Peach performed her Star Swing; Rouge was a smidge away from the ball, but the ball ended up flying a tad bit under the bat and ended up in Luigi's mitt.

"Three strikes makes and out- that out makes three outs! Change sides!"

"We've still got this! We can't give up just yet!" Daisy stated proudly. "Especially with our rep to uphold!"

"I told you they could pull off some miracle…" trailed Mario, tossing off his glove.

"Wow…it was really easy to strike Sonic out…" Peach commented. "It was like he hardly knew what to do!"

"I noticed that!" Luigi added. "I could just_ sense_ that he went blank!"

"That guy's a loser…" mumbled Wario. Mario just sighed.

"I can't believe you hit a Grand Slam Knuckles…" Rouge flirted, leaning on Knuckles while he was trying to walk to the field. "Some muscles you got there…"

Knuckles was actually enjoying the attention, but he wasn't about to show it. "Y-Yeah…we all know how strong_ I_ am! But how come _you_ struck out?"

Rouge moved a tuff of fur in place behind her ear. "I tried to hit it! That princess is tougher than she looks…and I _could've_ been Sonic…"

Knuckles glanced over his shoulder to see Sonic glumly trotting after Tails with a small smile as the fox continued to fly around and tell the world about his home run. Shadow was complaining about Wario, and the rest of the team was rushing up to Knuckles again and gave him pats on the back.

"How do you do it Knuckles?" Amy asked. "I mean, my hammer's good, but I'm such a fouler!"

Knuckles shrugged. "Sometimes it's more about precision than it is about power. Tone it down next time and see what I mean."

Amy nodded eagerly. "Okay!"

"Thank you Mr. Knuckles!" Cream exclaimed, giving the echidna a small hug. "I was able to run around the bases!"

"It was kinda cool what I did though!" Silver blurted out, trying to take some spotlight. Blaze let out a giggle.

"You stopped a ball in mid air. Knuckles caused four home runs. What's cooler?"

Silver muttered something before replying with, "I'll do something way better next time!" He then slipped a mitt on his hand and grinned. "I'm pitching next anyway. You'll see!"

Mario passed Sonic as they swapped spots on the field. He reached out to his friend/enemy/rival, but Sonic didn't dare say a word in fear Mario would try to mock him. Mario wasn't like that, however. It wasn't Sonic's fault he could hit, or Mario's fault his team had some experience under his belt. His team just loved baseball. If Sonic's team loved the sport, then maybe they would get better…


	4. Third Inning

Mario vs. Sonic in a Game of Baseball

Third Inning

_Third Inning Top- Fireballs hitting, Blurs pitching_  
_Current Score: 8-8_  
_Next Three Up To Bat- Luigi, Daisy, Waluigi_  
_Third Inning Sonic Pitcher: Silver the Hedgehog_  
_Fielding Positions: Shadow, Sonic, and Tails in outfield, Amy left field, Blaze right field, Knuckles home base, Cream first base, and Rouge third base._

"Isn't it weird how both teams got out on the same batter as the first inning?" Daisy asked Yoshi. Yoshi nodded.

"That _is_ a bit peculiar…" admitted Toad as DK pounded his fists together anxiously. Luigi stumbled up to bat as Silver floated to the pitcher mound and struck his trademark mid-air pose.

"So you're my first victim!" he taunted. Luigi trembled.

"Don't hurt me!" he wailed.

"I'm giving everything I've got!" Silver chortled before pitching the ball in a green aura. Just when Luigi moved his bat to swing, Silver froze the ball, then let it resume flying after Luigi swung.

"Strike 1!"

"Aw!"

Luigi adjusted his cap and tried to look intimidating to Silver, but failed as the hedgehog was just glad his technique worked.

"Yeah! How's that?"

"Just pitch Silver!" "Yeah, quit boasting!" "He stole my phrase!"

Silver jumped up and did a 360. The ball spun out of his hands at a rapid pace, but Luigi was ready for it. He waved his bat around him, causing a mini tornado to form. When he struck the ball, the bat went far behind his back and the tornado went with the ball. Silver's pupils shrank as he sweat dropped.

"What in the-YAH!"

The whirlwind completely bulldozed him over. It continued its rampage into Blaze and Amy, and ended up dropping the ball at Shadow's feet. It didn't matter now because Luigi was already safe at second base.

"I guess there was no use in that, eh?" Luigi dared to heckle. Silver made a face and turned to Daisy, after receiving the ball thrown a bit harder than necessary by Shadow.

"Well, I'm certainly not letting her get away with a hit…" Silver muttered, recovering from the pain in hand. He threw Daisy the ball, only for her to hit it instantly. "Dang it!"

"I got it!" Blaze shouted, hardly having to move. The ball was coming right at her so all she had to do was hold up her glove. Daisy didn't just growl at the fact that she got out- but also at the fact that it was Blaze herself who got her out- so easily too! The cat gave a smug look while Luigi took an unnecessary dive back to second base.

"You'd better make it to a base!" Wario threatened the next batter. Waluigi gave a snort over his shoulder before positioning himself for the hit. Silver gave an amused hum and tossed a change-up. Waluigi skinned the ball.

"Strike 1!"

"It's sure been awhile, hasn't it?" Silver pondered, levitating the ball in his palm.

"Just pitch already, you freak…" murmured his counterpart. Silver's eye twitched.

"I AM NOT A FREAK!"

His body lit up in a furious green aura, followed by him throwing the ball at full force. Waluigi acted like he was about to swing, causing Silver to "Freeze" the ball too early.

"NO!"

Waluigi swung like he was going to cause a pop-fly, but ended up bunting it and taking off for first. Knuckles was stunned for a moment, but came to his senses and grabbed the ball.

"Unh!"

With his incredible and amazing strength, the ball went soaring toward Cream, who was looking rather afraid of the ball but prepared to catch it anyway.

"Waluigi time!"

He picked up Cream and used her to get hit by the ball, making the young rabbit cry out. Waluigi didn't care- he just stepped on the base.

"Safe, unfortunately…"

Waluigi dropped Cream and cheered. Amy saw the tears forming and she, Tails, Toad, and Luigi instantly went stomping up to him.

"Where do you get off, using innocent little kids as shields!" Amy screamed. Waluigi shrugged.

"It's a brutal sport."

"I'll show you a brutal sport!"

She pulled out her hammer and threatened to whack Waluigi with it, until Toad reminded her that would cause her to get out of the game.

"We're still not going to let you get away with that!" Luigi threw in.

"I'd get back on the base before Silver decides to get you out-"

"Oh no!"

Luigi scrambled back to his base as Cream stood back up. Toad gave a dark stare to Waluigi before returning to the dug-out and Amy went back to her part of the field. Cream stared up at Waluigi, who just gave her an evil stare in return.

"…you're a big meanie, you know that?" Cream snapped. She kicked him in the shin -hard- and Waluigi tumbled to the ground clutching his leg.

"Aw ha…owowowowowowow!"

Silver actually laughed. "All right!"

Mario strolled up to bat next, hoping to not get out this time around. Tails was still in the outfield, and Sonic was right next to him.

_"Better not try to hit a homer…"_ he mused, getting ready for Silver's pitch. Silver used his Star Throw, but Mario didn't even try to hit.

"Strike 1!"

"Mario!" shouted his team. Mario sent them a look.

"I got this!"

He returned his attention back to the ball, which Silver threw fast in a green aura. Mario made it look like a hard swing, but actually simply bunted it. No one expected it, especially from Mario, giving him a little head start. Silver finally snapped out of shock and psychically grabbed the ball. He went to throw it to first, but Mario had already slid there. Luckily he saw Waluigi still trudging to second, and chucked the ball in that direction. Sonic ran forward from his position, jumped up and caught it, then tagged Waluigi while still in mid-air.

"Out 2!"

Sonic actually felt a little better as Waluigi shouted out things that kids like Cream and Tails shouldn't have been hearing. Now only the Mario Bros. were on the bases, and it was up to a princess to get Luigi home.

"This should be easy…" Peach mused to herself, Silver's ego too high to notice her smirk. He threw a Psychic Freeze; she retorted with her own Star Swing.

"Aw man…" Silver muttered before ball whirled over his head and leaving him love struck for the object. Luckily, Amy and Blaze were guarding the middle field and were able to get to the ball without being mesmerized. Luigi made it to home while Mario was getting ready to dodge a possible fastball to second. Blaze threw the ball in a fury of fire, but Mario somersaulted under it and made it safely.

"Score 9-8!" Natalie announced.

"Two outs too!" added Child.

"Not for long with Wario!" Wario boomed, making the ground shake under his very movements. Silver sighed and weakly threw the ball. As he predicted, Wario hit it.

"I just can't get a break today…"

While Wario struggled to get to first, Mario and Peach sprinted to third and second respectively. Amy managed to grab the ball and throw it Cream, but Wario blasted the ball away with a fart before making it safely to first.

"Keep goin' Mario!" shouted Toad, now knowing it was a very useful tactic. Mario took note of the ball's location- by Tails way in the outfield- and took off, knowing Tails didn't have the arm for throwing. Peach keep going for third, and Wario wasn't even going to try for second.

"Tails! Toss me the ball!" Sonic called, running forward a few steps to try and get Mario out. Tails had to spin to get a decent throw, but it worked for Sonic anyway. The hedgehog jumped up and propelled the ball toward home in a Spin Dash. Mario was only a few inches away, but that ball just _might've_ beaten him…

"Mario!" Peach cried, running off her course to third and veering toward Silver's area of the field.

"What the heck are you doing!"

She jumped up just in time to prevent the ball from reaching Mario, allowing him to claim their tenth run. Peach, however, got herself out.

"Out 3! Change sides!" Child called.

"What were you _thinking_ Peach?" Luigi questioned, jogging over to the princess. Peach shrugged.

"If the ball had gotten Mario out, we'd still be at 9-8! Instead, we're at 10-8, and we need every run we can get!" she explained.

"I _was_ going to yell at you, but I guess I see the logic…" muttered Wario.

_Third Inning Bottom- Blurs hitting, Fireballs pitching_  
_Next Three Up To Bat- Tails, Sonic, Silver_  
_Third Inning Mario Pitcher: Waluigi_  
_Fielding Positions: Toad, Wario, and Peach in outfield, Daisy left field, DK right field, Mario home base, Luigi first base, and Yoshi third base._

"Heh heh heh…" cackled Waluigi. He was confident about his pitching, and was going to start up full force- Tails wouldn't expect his Star Pitch…

"Oh great, my knees are shaking…" Tails groaned when realized his legs wouldn't stop vibrating. He readied himself for the pitch, only to have his eyes widen as Waluigi magically enlarged the ball. It was at least thirty times its originally size!

"Wah ha ha!"

"AAHH!"

Tails cringed in fear of being hit by the huge ball, thought it turned back to normal fast enough for Tails to attempt a hit. But Tails didn't move, and he ended up getting beaned.

"Bean Ball! Hitter takes his base!"

"…WAH?"

Waluigi stomped the ground angrily and threw an awfully mature fit as Tails flew to first. But then, once Waluigi witnessed the sight of Sonic dragging his feet up to bat, his mood turned right around. Sonic saw Waluigi's sneer and his own wall of confidence collapsed instantly.

_"Oh no, oh no, oh no…"_

Waluigi adjusted his cap with a wicked smirk before pitching. He continued to stall, adjusting his glove, spitting, kicking dirt off his shoe…Sonic was about to be driven nuts. When Waluigi started counting grass, Sonic lost it.

"Throw the ball already!"

Waluigi whistled. "Someone needs anger management!"

Sonic pointed to Knuckles. "No, that's him."

"HEY!"

Nevertheless, he carelessly tossed the ball over his shoulder. Sonic honestly tried to hit it, but was a little too early.

"Strike 1!"

"Looks like you're a little too fast there…" chuckled Waluigi. Sonic gritted his teeth and prepared for another hit. Waluigi threw it a bit faster, and the second Sonic heard the contact of bat on ball, he bolted around the bases at literally the speed of sound. All the fielders went flying into the stadium's fence, the fans flew backward, Tails tumbled into Luigi, and the rest of Sonic's team was grateful that they were in the dugout. Natalie even nearly fell off the scoreboard! Sonic was at home base in less than a second, and started dancing around.

"I got a home run! Yes! Take that!"

"Sonic…" Child trailed, sweat dropping in the dugout after landing on Knuckles. "…that was a foul ball…"

"…Aw big fat ugly golden _rings_!"

Wario couldn't contain it and burst out in the loudest guffaw in the universe, causing Waluigi to start up too. DK and Yoshi snickered, Peach, Daisy, and Toad turned away, Luigi covered his mouth, and Mario smacked his head. Tails told Sonic he had a nice try while Shadow smirked, Rouge grinned, and everyone else covered their mouths too- except Knuckles, who was thinking of ways to use this as blackmail while throwing Child back to the umpire position.

"OOMPH! A little lighter there next time, Red," Child murmured as she arose again, with Knuckles only casually shrugging in response. Once she pulled herself together, she turned to the batter and sighed. "…Sonic, stop hiding your face with the bat and swing already…"

"You try being me right now!" he growled, his face a very deep shade of red hidden to the rest of the cast by his bat.

"So you made a mistake- I guarantee you'll hit it right this time!"

The blush finally dimmed down. "If you say so…"

Sonic returned to the base, Waluigi struggling to throw the ball without laughing. After receiving a very dark glare from Sonic, Waluigi got himself together and threw the ball straight over the plate. Sonic gave an unsure moan and swung the bat around. Miraculously, it flew out to the field.

"I told you!" Child exclaimed smugly.

"All right! I hit it!"

In his excitement, he threw the bat behind him as hard as he could, flying toward his other teammates. Child ducked to the ground in time, but the bat ended up hitting Shadow in the head and smacking Knuckles in the shoulder.

"That's an out, now…you can't throw the bat!"

"What! You told me I'd get a hit and now I'm out!" Sonic complained when he came back.

"Yeah, I said you'd get a hit- I said nothing about nearly taking my head off with a cobalt blue baseball bat!"

Sonic muttered something under his breath as Tails could be heard saying "I'll never be able to run again…"

"Take your bat back, Faker…" Shadow hissed, throwing the bat at Sonic and knocking him down.

"Ugh, I feel like Silver…speaking of, where is he?"

"At bat, probably going to make it at least second base…" Blaze answered.

"No one can stop me!" Silver cackled to Waluigi.

"Except for_ me_!"

Waluigi threw his Star Pitch, which Silver yawned at and stopped in midair while it was still large. He then smacked it into Toad's part of the field, but he couldn't catch it, causing the ball to crush him, shrink, and bounce over the fence for a home run.

"That was so cheap!" Daisy shrieked as Silver hovered around the bases along with Tails. Another two runs were added to their score.

"That was easy enough!"

"Stop using up all your catch phases!"

"Why? It's the only thing that makes me look cool anymore!"

"It's no use …" muttered Child.

"Anyway…" murmured Waluigi."Who's next?"

Cream skipped up and gave a cute, yet…actually somewhat evil glare in his direction. Waluigi legitimately gulped. He nervously threw the ball, embarrassed that he was now frightened by a little girl, which was blasted back at him with a really happy aura.

"You really need to lighten up…" Cream stated smugly, skipping to first and making her way to second.

"No…mustn't smile…must resist…urge…"

"Throw the ball, moron!" "Get her out!"

"Can't…wouldn't be…nice…"

"NO! She's possessed him!" cried Wario.

Cream stopped at third, causing the Star Swing's power to finally wear off. Waluigi glanced around and frowned. Blaze walked up next and just hoped for the best.

"Bring Cream home!" Amy shouted.

"I'll try…"

Waluigi pitched twice- and Blaze missed them both. This third one would be very critical, and Blaze wasn't about to have her pride crushed. The purple plumber threw it to the purple cat, and the ball finally was in the air. Blaze sped to first as Cream stopped running and simply flew to home base. She landed on the plate, getting a third run for her team this inning. Meanwhile, the ball ended up around Yoshi and Toad. Toad gave the ball to Yoshi, since he had better arm.

"Hasta la vista, baby!" Yoshi shouted, chucking the ball to second. Toad sighed and shook his head. Daisy was at second in a flash, grabbing the ball and tagging Blaze before she could turn around or step on the base.

"Out 2!"

"Darn it! Darn it!" Blaze scowled when she came back.

"Don't worry Blaze- the score is 10-11 now, so we're ahead!" Cream assured.

"Yeah, and Knuckles is next too!" added Rouge confidently. Sonic groaned and threw his head back.

"Oh great."

Knuckles grinned at the plate, a bit _too_ confident about getting a home run. His ego was way too high at the moment. Waluigi spat again before cocking his head at Knuckles.

"You really think you can get a home off me?"

"Somehow Silver did!"

"Heard that!"

"Well I'm going to make _you_ work for it!"

"You'll be eating your words!"

"Careful Knuckles!" Tails warned. Knuckles turned and waved a hand.

"Calm down Tails! I got this!"

Waluigi smirked and threw the ball while Knuckles wasn't looking.

"Knuckles swing!"

"Whuzzut!"

Absent-mindedly, his bat hit the ball softly when he turned around, resulting as a bunt but still a hit. Knuckles scrambled to get to first as Mario scooped up the ball. He threw it at first to try and hit Knuckles, but still toward Luigi in case he missed. Knuckles could sense the ball coming up and leaned down in a very sharp slant while touching the base and avoiding getting hit by the ball. However, he kept going for second.

"Luigi, look alive!"

Luigi shrieked and threw the ball at Waluigi, thinking he had gotten Knuckles out.

"No, you idiot!" screeched Waluigi, throwing the ball to DK at second. Knuckles hurdled over the ball aimed at his feet, did a front flip, touched the base with his hand, and _still_ kept going! DK grabbed the ball and hardly realized what had happened. In his confusion, he tried to throw the ball at Yoshi, but it once again fell directly in between him and Toad.

"I got it!" both players cried, running straight for the ball and each other. They crashed heads and bounced back a few inches. Knuckles claimed third and decided to might as well head for home.

"You can do it Knuckles!" "Go Knuckles!" "Beat that ball!"

"Not on my watch!" Yoshi yelled, pushing Toad out of the way to get the ball. He had a perfect throwing range of Knuckles and propelled the ball as hard as he could. Right before it reached Knuckles though, the echidna jumped into the air and burrowed into the ground. Mario caught the ball, ready to tag Knuckles, but couldn't tag him if he was out of sight.

"Where the heck did he-"

"RARGH!"

Knuckles spouted out of the ground under Mario's feet, sending the plumber flying into the air. Knuckles then finished his rounding by sliding stylishly onto the base.

"In the park home run!" Child cried. The team into the dugout erupted in cheers. Knuckles returned with a mellow look, only to be dog piled with congratulations.

Shadow rolled his eyes. "This is so ridiculous! Why does he get all the attention! I'm _Shadow_! It should be all about me!"

"Give it a rest Shadow…" grunted Sonic.

"Looks who talking! I bet your ego's getting ready to break in two!"

"Listen to yours ranting right now!"

"SHUT UP- YOU'RE MAKING ME LOSE MY FOCUS!" Amy screamed, silencing the two hedgehogs. "Thank you. Now…"

She remembered what Knuckles told her- precision, not power. Except, in Knuckles' case, he usually just fused the two together. Still, Amy kept her attention on precision. When Waluigi sent the ball in her direction, Amy struggled from hitting too hard and hitting at the right moment.

"Now Amy!" Knuckles shouted over people still giving him praise. Amy swung- it went flying in a very high arch. She started screaming happily.

"I hit it and it wasn't a foul!"

"Run fool!"

"Oh right!"

Amy ran off, Daisy, DK, and Wario getting ready to fight over who was going to catch the ball. Wario climbed onto DK, then Daisy hesitantly climbed onto Wario. Wario farted to get her off, causing Daisy to fall into fresh air and DK to literally throw the fat man off his back. Daisy was trying to recover from the gas and Wario was attempting to get his butt off the ground, so DK caught the ball in his rather large glove to finally call it an inning.

"Out 3! Change sides!" Child called. "Hey, Natalie! What's the score!"

"Um…10-12!"

"'Kay thanks!"

"I don't even care that I got out! I hit it!" Amy rejoiced, just about dancing to her next position.

"I can't believe we're down by two runs…" groaned Daisy. "It may not be much, but I can't handle that!"

"What're we going to do Mario? They're on the verge of grinding us into the ground!" Luigi squeaked. Mario placed a hand under his chin and tapped his foot.

"Maybe it's time to send in the secret weapon…"

Yoshi jumped for joy. "That means me! Yoshi!"

"Wah? Why not me- I'd literally blow away the competition!" Wario chortled.

"You wouldn't just blow them away- you'd poison them right to the bathroom!"

"Hey- I take pride in that!"

"No matter what happens, I'm still having fun!" Toad cheered.

"Even so, I'm still not looking forward to possibly losing…" trailed Peach. Everyone else nodded.

. . .

"We're actually winning!" Tails cheered.

"Yeah, thanks to you, Silver, and Knuckles!" Rouge stated.

"Me too!" Cream pointed out. Knuckles held up his hands.

"You people _really_ need to stop praising me every single time I perform an amazing feat!"

"But Knuckles, you're the one that's keeping us an equal playing field with Mario's team! Without you, we would crumble apart and finally feel the wrath of the other team!" Silver explained.

"You're like the shield that protecting us from losing!" threw in Amy.

"I'd hate to say I agree…" Shadow said as quietly as possible.

"We're just happy you agreed to this after all, Knuckles!" Tails finished, grinning and giving Knuckles a thumbs up. Knuckles struck a pose.

"Well, I _suppose_ I can't let you guys down…" he slipped on a baseball glove with spike indents made especially for his hand."…especially since I'm pitching next!"

"Yes! We're not going to lose after all!" Tails and Cream sang, dancing in a circle.

"I'm starting to really like baseball!" Silver realized. "The people of the future were wrong!"

"I'll have to teach the people of my kingdom!" agreed Blaze.

Sonic wished he could just stay in the dugout, but Mario eventually arrived, and being the only one on his team to actually feel a little bad for him, gently told Sonic to get out there. Sonic meekly glanced up, expecting a smug look, but instead received a friendly smile and an extended hand. Sonic sighed, took the hand, and pulled himself up.

"…thanks…" he murmured before speeding off. Luigi walked up, staring at Sonic's blurrier aftermath.

"What did you say to him?"

Mario shrugged. "Just some friendly sportsmanship encouragement. Why?"

"He stepped on my foot."


	5. Fourth Inning

Mario vs. Sonic in a Game of Baseball

Fourth Inning

_Fourth Inning Top- Fireballs hitting, Blurs pitching_  
_Current Score: 10-12_  
_Next Three Up To Bat- Donkey Kong, Toad, Yoshi_  
_Fourth Inning Sonic Pitcher: Knuckles the Echidna_  
_Fielding Positions: Rouge, Shadow, and Sonic in outfield, Tails left field, Amy right field, Blaze home base, Silver first base, and Cream third base._

"Yeah! Now's my time to shine!" Knuckles cried, raising his fist to the sky on the pitcher's mound.

"You've been shining all day!" snorted Wario.

"Shine anymore and we'll go blind!" called Yoshi.

"Trying to bring me down eh? Well you'll be the ones going down!"

"Take it easy there Knuckles…I think you almost offended them!" Sonic shouted. Knuckles gritted his teeth.

"Fine, fine. It's all over when Sonic makes a comment anyway…"

DK was the first up this inning, and he certainly wasn't about to let Knuckles get an out off of him. Knuckles wound up his pitch, sending a smug look DK's way before hurling the ball in a perfect line over the plate at a speed that would make Sonic drop his jaw. However, Sonic was expecting that, and his jaw didn't drop, but Mario's team's jaws did.

"What. Was. That?" DK asked in his monkey language.

"He…he's faster than me!" Peach shrieked. "Oh no! We're doomed!"

"We are not doomed!" Mario protested. "We've still got Yoshi, and that was only one strike! It's not impossible to hit _your_ pitches, is it?"

"No…"

"So we still have a chance, don't we?"

Peach nodded and finally calmed down. Knuckles, meanwhile, rolled his eyes and threw another ball to DK. It was a little slower than the first, DK taking the slim chance he had to hit the ball with his giant glove. The ball went into Shadow and Sonic's territory, but Rouge ran over to Shadow and performed a Buddy Jump. They only managed to knock the ball out of the air. The ball fell into Sonic's glove, Child calling it a fair play. DK had finally made it to first base and planned to stay there. Sonic made a face and tossed the ball back to Knuckles.

"This won't end well…" Toad murmured, dragging his bat to the plate. Knuckles almost had the urge to say "easy out!" but knew Toad was a good guy and didn't want to hurt his feelings. He threw the ball softer than he usually would, only for Toad to swing randomly and accidentally bunt it. "I'll take it!"

Knuckles smirked as he caught the ball from Blaze. "Knew it."

He threw it to second for someone to get DK out, but both Tails and Amy weren't paying attention at all. It hit the ground and rolled toward the plate, but that didn't get DK out.

"You guys!" Knuckles snapped.

"Sor-ry! How we're we supposed to know what you were going to do?" defended Amy. Tails didn't say anything.

"Hm, I don't know…keep your eye on the ball?" Knuckles received the ball again via being hit in the back of the head with it. "Was that necessary? ! What happened to me being the savior of the team?"

"I _briefly _forgot…"

Knuckles muttered something as he turned to Yoshi, who didn't have a trace of an expression on his face. It slightly made him uneasy.

"Well, whatever. I'm definitely not going easy on him!"

"Hmph!"

Knuckles leaned on his heels in a similar way to what Luigi would do, then chucked the ball right by Yoshi's head.

"Strike 1!"

"That should've been a ball- I could have been beaned!" Yoshi exclaimed.

"You definitely could've hit that Yoshi…"

"But he won't hit this one!"

Knuckles tossed a change-up, which Yoshi wasn't terrified of…until it landed by making a small indent in the plate. The dinosaur jumped a few inches back and gawked at Knuckles.

"Strike 2!"

" And now, ladies and gentlemen, I, Knuckles the Echidna, shall finish this one off with one last final trick!" Knuckles boasted. Daisy smacked her head.

"Now he's letting it all go to his head…"

"Just get this over with!" Yoshi called. Knuckles just scoffed as he threw the ball high into the air.

"Fine then!"

"Oh, what's this- another change-up?"

"Not quite…" Knuckles jumped up, brought his fist way behind his back, then punched the baseball as hard as he physically could. Yoshi gulped and almost froze.

"Now Yoshi!" cried Mario. Yoshi snapped out of it and used his Star Swing to counter Knuckles' Star Pitch. With an egg and a rainbow, Yoshi hit the ball and sent it bouncing all over the place. Not even Silver could get a hold of it with his psychic powers!

"Way to go Yoshi!" Toad cheered as he reached second. Yoshi skidded to first as Tails got back into it and seized the ball. He noticed DK heading for third still and called out Cream's name. His throwing skills were no use however- DK kept going for home.

"What are you-a doing!" Wario cried.

"That's-a gotta be worse than Wario landing on me!" yelped Waluigi.

"Actually, nothing could be worse than that…" shivered Luigi.

"Who asked _you?_"

Cream flew lightly up off the ground to catch DK's ball, then threw it to Blaze.

"Get him out, Blaze!"

DK picked up speed and ended up bulldozing Blaze over while crossing the base.

"Safe!"

"11-12!"

"Yes! Way to go DK!" "You too, Yoshi!"

"Are you okay Blaze?" Knuckles asked. Blaze stood up and attempted to nod.

"When's the next Twinkie Bus gonna come?"

"No! DK probably messed up her brain!" squeaked Silver in a high-pitched key. Blaze blinked and shook off the temporary craziness.

"I'm fine now, Silver…"

"I hate being back here! It means I'm not important!" Shadow randomly shouted to anyone who cared. "I'm not even getting enough spotlight!"

"You get some when it's your turn to pitch!" Sonic snapped. Rouge slugged Shadow in the arm.

"Yeah, let Knuckles do his thing!"

"Thank you Rouge…" Knuckles stated. He returned his attention to the batter, which was now Luigi.

"All I can do is pray he doesn't bean me…" gulped the green plumber to himself. Knuckles spun the ball on his thumb before tossing a fastball to Luigi.

"Strike 1!"

"Stop showing off!" ordered Yoshi.

"Yeah, that's what _I'm_ supposed to do!" Sonic added.

"Oh yeah- we were _all_ impressed by those batting skills of yours!" cackled Waluigi. Wario let one rip while he started cracking up too.

"Wah ha! Good one!"

Sonic bared his canine teeth. "Grrrrrr…"

Knuckles shook his head. "…and they said _I_ was the one with anger issues…"

He pitched to Luigi once again, and Luigi just swung- and got a decent hit. Tails jumped up to catch the ball, but like Rouge it ricocheted off his glove and landed in Amy's glove. Yoshi reached second, Toad was almost to third, and Luigi was stumbling to first.

"Uh…where do I throw this?" Amy panicked, glancing frantically in every direction.

"Anywhere! Get someone out!" Tails exclaimed while making crazy gesturing with his arms.

Amy threw it to third since that would make Toad more of a threat, but Toad took a dive and had his hand touch the base at the last second.

"Safe!"

Luigi had also made it to first, and Knuckles sweat dropped. "If you want something done right, you'll have to do it yourself…"

Daisy marched up to bat next, hoping to hit a Grand Slam but knowing it probably wasn't likely …

"Oh, _please_ do good Daisy…" Mario prayed. Daisy somehow sensed his words and nodded. Knuckles threw a fastball (Daisy missed) then used his totally epic Star Pitch (also missed) and even accidentally tossed a Ball before he used a change-up and finally "let" Daisy hit the ball. It started to go straight down the field, which Knuckles' caught instantly.

"Out 1!"

Knuckles then quickly threw the ball to third, where Cream used Cheese to get Yoshi out.

"Out 2!"

"Toad! Toad!" shouted Sonic, pointing to how he was about to make a run. Knuckles clapped his hands for the ball.

"Cream! Here!"

"Okay Mister Knuckles!"

Cream tossed the ball to Knuckles, who instantly targeted home plate where Toad was still struggling to make his way to. Knuckles grunted as he threw the ball full-force, straight at Blaze who was ready with her glove. Toad tried to go faster, but there was no way he was going to beat the speed of Knuckles' power throw. Blaze skidded backwards after catching the ball, though Toad still got out.

"Triple-play! You're out! Change sides!" Knuckles said coolly. Child folded her arms and turned away.

"…I wanted to say that…because you got a triple play!"

Knuckles shrugged. "I just had a feeling I _might_ be able to pull it off-"

"GO KNUCKLES!" his team shouted, running up to him. He flinched, expecting hugs and slaps on the back once again, but everyone just started chattering up about him.

"That's incredible Knuckles! I'm an excellent fielder, and I don't even think I could've done that!" Tails exclaimed.

"I'm a good fielder too, but I've just been having a bad day…" sighed Silver. Amy placed a hand on Knuckles' shoulder.

"Sorry I threw the ball at you- I was just frustrated!"

"Uh, it's okay…I suppose…"

"No, really, you just got _three_ outs in one play, and _I _hit you with a baseball!"

"Some sport you are…" snickered Rouge.

"Well, we've automatically lost this inning!" complained Waluigi, shaking his fists into the air.

"It was so short too…" Yoshi groaned.

"They all can't be long!"

"We_ will_ get them next time!" Mario assured. "But this time, we just need to keep them at bay, and we absolutely _must _make sure Knuckles does _not_ hit again, no matter what!"

"Aren't we taking this a little too far?" Toad asked. "It's just a game-"

"It's a war against some group of animals who think they're better than us- be lucky we're not threatening to toss them down a hole!" Yoshi exclaimed. Toad only started shaking his head. It was then that Mario gave a serious look to Yoshi.

"No mercy?"

"No mercy."

_Fourth Inning Bottom- Blurs hitting, Fireballs pitching_  
_Current Score: 11-12_  
_Next Three Up To Bat- Shadow, Rouge, Tails_  
_Fourth Inning Mario Pitcher: Yoshi_  
_Fielding Positions: Waluigi, Toad, and Wario in outfield, Peach left field, Daisy right field, DK home base, Mario first base, and Luigi third base._

"Oh…why must I be here?" moaned Toad, glancing back and forth from Wario and Waluigi giving him glares.

"About time the attention was on me for a change…" Shadow chuckled deeply under his breath. "Forget hitting it- I've got a better plan!"

"Are you done talking to yourself?" Yoshi asked. "I'd like to pitch today!"

Shadow pointed his bat at Yoshi. "Hey. Don't hate the Ultimate Life-form!"

Yoshi just sighed and threw the ball. Shadow once again shouted out "Chaos Control!" while making contact with the ball. It disappeared, giving Shadow a brief advantage.

"Oh, not again…" sighed Luigi. Shadow, with his speed almost as good as Sonic's, was already crossing second and heading to third.

"That's just not fair…" whined Peach.

"Hey! That's my line!"

Finally, the ball reappeared, simply falling out of the air and hitting Yoshi in the head. Shadow ignored the fact Yoshi could very easily get him out and rushed toward home base.

"Don't mess it up, Shadow!" Rouge called softly.

"Yoshi! Get with it!"

Yoshi was slightly dizzy after getting bonked in the head, but still threw the ball to DK at home. Shadow leaped into the air, curled up into a ball, and "threw" himself at home base right before DK caught the ball.

"That was safe…"

"Yes! I, Shadow, got an in the park home run! Take that, Wario! Mwahahahaha!"

"Yeah, so did Knuckles!" jeered Silver.

"Don't ruin my moment!"

"The score is now 11-13!"

"Yoshi! The plan!" Mario hissed. Yoshi waved a hand.

"I know, I know…how was I supposed to get _Shadow_ out?"

Rouge strutted up to bat and tried to hide her fear when she saw Yoshi pitching, recalling how he got her out that first time. Yoshi sensed her get tense anyway and smirked.

"What's wrong, Rouge? Feeling a bit stressed?"

"Don't you try to pull some kind of trick on me!"

Yoshi shrugged. "I'm not…I just want you to see the rainbow!"

"Wait, what-"

Yoshi threw his signature Rainbow Ball, causing a large rainbow to blind Rouge and to swing too late when the ball actually arrived.

"Strike 1!"

Rouge flashed her fangs and narrowed her eyes, as if to guarantee she would hit it. Yoshi simply smirked and threw it again. Another strike for Rouge. She gulped. Yoshi threw it once more, and this time, Rouge hit it. She instantly flew to first, not even caring where the ball went. It rolled right into Peach's glove, and Peach propelled the ball toward Mario. Rouge quickly did a flip in the air to avoid being hit by the ball, and touched the base with the tip of her finger.

"Safe!"

Mario, with the caught ball that completely missed Rouge, frowned and gave it back to Yoshi. Tails was at bat next, and he was actually quite confident. Yoshi reeled back, then threw the ball at Tails at a sharp speed. He did hit it, but it rocketed into the Foul Area. Yoshi received the ball once more, giving Tails a slightly evil grin. Tails sweat dropped.

"I'm not letting anyone hit!" Yoshi exclaimed, throwing his Rainbow Ball. Tails' mind raced with math calculations and a thousand estimates, but eventually found the right time to hit and managed to get a swing. Yoshi stomped his foot as Mario groaned. Rouge blasted away to second while Tails prepared to take over first. The ball was spiraling toward Toad, who probably could've caught it, but Wario and Waluigi thought that _they_ needed to get the ball and crushed Toad into a pancake.

"Oh help me…"

"Fair!"

"Oh come on!"

"Where'd the ball-a go, Fungi-head?"

"I-I don't know! You guys probably pummeled it into the ground!"

"You're going to make us lose!" Daisy shrieked.

Rouge reached second, and decided she might as well take third while the "idiots" in the outfield were bickering. Tails reached first, and figured if Rouge could make to third, he could make it to second- so he took off too. Meanwhile, Mario and Daisy were angrily shouting at Wario and Waluigi for losing the ball and crushing Toad. Toad was on the ground twitching, and Waluigi was scurrying around for the ball. He found it while Wario just stood and picked his nose.

"Blast it, quick!" Waluigi ordered.

"Wait- I need to build up power!"

"NOW!"

"Fine! People taking my pooting powers for granted here…"

Waluigi tossed the ball toward Wario and ran off before he got caught in the aftermath. Wario launched the ball with a fart, just like he did to Shadow previously. Tails was just about to reach second when a baseball with an absolutely terrible stench struck him in the side and knocked him off course. Rouge skidded to third and stayed safe. When she saw Tails on the ground though, she recalled what Yoshi did to her and frowned.

"Tails! Are you okay?" Sonic shouted.

"Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick! That smelled awful!"

"Wah hah hah!"

Tails scowled at Wario as Child called him out. The young fox flew back to the dugout, his team telling him "nice try" and "Better luck next time" and "CURSE YOU WARIO!" Mario gave a thumbs up to Yoshi as Sonic hurried to bat, not failing to notice the gesture.

"They've got something planned…and I'm at bat. Great."

Yoshi's intimidating stare normally wouldn't have fazed Sonic at all, but after the past innings it was slightly hard to feel confident. The green dinosaur chucked the ball over the plate, which Sonic attempted to hit, but missed again. Yoshi threw another Rainbow Ball, which Sonic also missed.

"We're so doomed now. All he has to do is get Rouge home!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"It's his fault we're even in this in the first place!" snorted Shadow, twirling a ball on his finger and having Silver get it when it fell.

"Just wait until he gets out again and Knuckles'll make up for it…" mumbled Amy, hoping Sonic really wouldn't hear. She loved him with all her heart, but everyone had their flaws-

"I'm right here, and you're talking about me!" Sonic hissed over his shoulder. Knuckles and Amy grinned innocently, Amy with an abashed blush, while Shadow just gave an amused smirk. Sonic sighed and returned all his focus on Yoshi. He already had two strikes- what was all the suspense for? Mario gave some kind of secret signal, and Yoshi nodded. Sonic gulped as Yoshi suddenly started to spin. He jumped into the air, fluttered, put the ball in his mouth, then used his tongue to pitch.

"Ew. I wouldn't even touch that ball with a baseball bat!" recoiled Blaze. Sonic gasped and simply swung- Yoshi's tongue certainly had a lot of power! There was a crack, but Sonic was certain it was a foul and started trotting back to the dugout.

"Run Sonic!" "Go, moron!"

"What the-?"

Sonic actually hit the ball. It was last second though, so it just barely went over Yoshi's head. Sonic cheered with pride, enthusiasm, and pure surprise, and bolted for first and knew for sure he could make it to home! The perfect way to redeem himself! However, he was too confident, therefore he only ran at an above average speed -rather than breaking the sound barrier- which wasn't faster than Yoshi's throwing speed. There was still a slight chance he could get out.

"All right!" Rouge exclaimed as she reached home. Sonic's team was once again in the lead. Sonic had just hit second and was flying for third. Daisy retrieved the ball and threw it to Yoshi. Yoshi caught it and waited until Sonic stepped off third to give the ball to DK. When Sonic came racing by, DK held out the ball and tapped Sonic's arm with it.

"Out 2!"

"…What!"

"It was obvious you were going to go to home, Sonic…" Tails murmured quietly.

"And it was also kinda easy to hit that weird pitch Yoshi threw…" added Silver, walking up to the plate now.

"Sorry Sonic…" Child trailed.

"Man, today's just not my day!"

"Didn't you already say that?"

"I don't care if I did- its true!"

Sonic stomped back into the dugout, daring any team members to speak his name. All Knuckles did was whistle, causing Sonic to give him a dark glare. Knuckles reeled back and held up his hands.

"It was um, a sneeze-"

"A _sneeze?_ That came from your mouth!"

"It was the sneeze after sound! You know how that occasionally happens-"

"Whatever, Knuckles…"

"_Someone_ got up on the wrong side of home plate this morning!"

Sonic gritted his teeth, but silently sat down. Silver stood ready to hit with a silly grin, not really caring if he made it or not. …Actually that wasn't true. He was praying that he didn't get out, but he hoped staying positive would help some. So Silver kept grinning at Yoshi, who just raised an eyebrow and pitched. Silver struck the ball, sending it toward Luigi's part of the field. Silver hurried to get to first, but Luigi pulled off an incredible throw and even sent Mario skidding over the plate. Despite the fact Silver already was out, Mario tagged him to emphasize the point when Silver tried to keep going.

"Out 3. Changes sides!"

"Well that was a short inning…Silver get you next time!"

"Don't take our phases!"

"I bet he just ran out of his!"

"Get into focus, people! We seriously need some runs this inning!" Mario exclaimed, waving his hands around. "It's a matter of life and death now!"

"It's also just a baseball game…" Silver threw in while passing by.

"You'll never understand!"

"You got me out with the cheapest move in the world!"

"Go with your own team!"

"I think I will!"

Silver manipulated himself and hovered off, leaving Mario secretly jealous he couldn't fly too. Yoshi, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, and Toad ran over, asking what the next move was.

"We'll really need to play it safe- no one do anything risky unless you feel you absolutely can! In the field…that's when we get a little risky! Blaze and Knuckles will be batting for sure, and we all know Knuckles will probably pull one over on us, and Blaze is actually a decent hitter. Focus on those two, then we can strike Rouge, Amy, or Shadow down!"

"This is sounding more and more like a war plan, Mario…" Luigi trembled. Mario blinked.

"Wha…sorry- got into my 'dominant mode' there. But seriously, we really need to make a comeback. Everyone got that?"

Mario's team nodded, including Wario, Waluigi, and DK who had just arrived. Mario put his hand in the middle for a pile-up.

"GO FIREBALLS!" "And for the love of baseball!"

"YEAH!"

. . .

"Listen to them- they're _cheering_ over there!" complained Rouge.

"I _did_ just overhear Mario give a rather motivational speech!" Silver stated when he arrived.

"If only our captain motivated _us_ a little more…" muttered Shadow, prompting everyone to turn their gazes to Sonic. Sonic suddenly realized they were talking to him and turned around.

"…what?"

"How come you can't give us a little encouragement like Mr. Mario over there?" Cream asked innocently.

"What am I supposed to say? We're just an average team that's not as bad as I originally thought, but we're certainly not going to beat Mario?"

"Then how come we're winning then?" Blaze put out.

"Luck!"

"Luck? You've gotta be kidding!" "It was mostly thanks to Knuckles!" "I helped too!" "I did also!" "No you didn't, Silver…"

"I can't help that I'm gifted at baseball…" Knuckles shrugged.

"While other people aren't…" snickered Shadow to Rouge.

Sonic scowled darker than Shadow ever could, making even the Ultimate Life form flinch in fear. "Well, since I'm just so_ terrible_ at baseball, why don't you have someone with outstanding skills take over!"

"Oh, he's mad now…" "That's really rare!" "I'm kinda scared…"

"We just asked if-" Tails started.

"I help and encourage people all the time! But when I need it, no one's ever there for me!"

"You have such a high ego we never need to!" Amy dared to say. "Of course, I don't because I'm your girlfriend!"

Her words went unheard because Sonic had mysteriously disappeared.

"…what did we _do_, exactly?" Knuckles asked.

"He just needs a few minutes…he'll be back to normal when he gets back, I'm sure of it!" Amy replied.

"Too bad we don't_ have_ a few minutes…" Tails trailed, sliding on his glove to pitch.

"Quick Knuckles! Throw together a well thought-out plan!" Silver ordered. Rouge instantly burst out laughing.

"Knuckles? Well thought plan? Throw together? You've got a better chance of Sonic hitting a baseball!"

"Okay, that was just mean all-around, first of all!" Knuckles hissed. "Second, all we really need to do is keep the other team at bay. If they don't score and we keep doing so, we can maintain our lead!"

"You make it sound so simple…and I'm up to bat first too when it's our turn!" sighed Cream. Knuckles placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You'll do fine! You might simply make it to first, or even hit a home, but you'll do well!"

Cream smiled. "Thanks Knuckles!"

"Hey! How come _we_ don't get any emotional screen time?" complained Peach from the distance.

"Your team doesn't have any problems. You guys are a well-oiled machine while we're just a pile of torn paper!"

"Besides, the prologue was mostly about your team anyway!" Blaze shouted.

"We weren't supposed to know that!"

Whatever! Let's get out there and keep our lead!" Knuckles stated, leading the charge.

Meanwhile, Sonic sat on the scoreboard, unknown to him that Natalie was filming him, and sighed as his team excitedly ran into the field.

"Man…they're probably better off with Knuckles and without me bringing them down! But at least I managed to hit it! I got out, but I still hit it!"

He saw Tails head for the pitcher's mound.

"Oh, Tails' pitching…" a smirk found its way onto its expression. "Mario won't stand a chance!"

"They won't if you get on out there!"

"What the- why are you wasting time filming me? Mario's team needs some spotlight!"

"It's more fun to watch drama than some peppy team! Now get out there and prove yourself!"

Sonic sighed. "Fine…but I hate how every inning seems to end with _me_ in some kind of turmoil!"

Natalie shrugged. "It'll be over soon. Don't worry!"

Sonic managed to smile a little. "That's what I was supposed to say."

"I know!"

Sonic jumped off the side of the scoreboard, and took his next position. The Sonic Blurs still weren't going down without a fight, even if Mario was toughening things up a bit…

"Besides…" Natalie trailed after he was gone, a sickening simper crawling across her face. "I feel like something will happen to Knuckles anyway…"


	6. Fifth Inning And a Break

Mario vs. Sonic in a Game of Baseball

Fifth Inning- and a Break

_Fifth Inning Top- Fireballs hitting, Blurs pitching  
Current Score: 11-13  
Next Three Up To Bat- Waluigi, Mario, Peach  
Fifth Inning Sonic Pitcher: Miles "Tails" Prower_  
_Fielding Positions: Knuckles, Rouge, and Shadow in outfield, Sonic left field, Cream right field, Amy home base, Blaze first base, and Silver third base._

"Strike 'em out, Tails!" Knuckles called from the outfield next to Rouge. Tails just nodded and gave his trademark "I'll do my best!" as Waluigi strolled up in an intimidating fashion.

"I dare you to try and get me out!" Waluigi sneered. Tails sighed as he wound up his pitch.

"I said I'd do my best!"

"Oh, burn!" "Dissed!" "How can you_ stand_ that?"

Waluigi just spat. "Aw, just throw the ball!"

Tails gave the ball a hard toss, which Waluigi actually hit pretty easily. It headed for Cream's part of the field, which bounced onto the ground before she could catch it. If Waluigi had gone to second, like he usually would've, she could've gotten him out. However, he actually took Mario's advice and took things easy. Tails just shrugged- it wasn't really much of a big deal.

Mario walked up…and was afraid to admit that he was slightly intimidated by Tails. Twice before, the young fox had gotten him out by catching his almost home-run balls! That right there took skill- even Silver, who was said to be a good fielder, couldn't do that!

"Are you ready for this Mario?" Tails sang, even going as far to give a little smirk. Mario tried hard to hide his gulp.

"He going to do his Star Pitch!" gasped Luigi, noting the pose that Tails suddenly assumed.

"It's still not as bad as Knuckles'…" Yoshi shivered. Tails gave a wink before taking off at a high-speed into the air, Mario only able to gaze up from where he once was. When Tails was _really_ high up, he spun around and threw the ball down towards Mario. Mario let out a yelp…and used the bat to defend his face. The ball miraculously hit the bat and landed over the foul line.

"Foul!" Child cried. "Which also means a strike, as you know Mario…"

Mario just gave her a look while Tails came propelling back down with his contagious grin. He prepared himself for Tails again, trying to be ready for whatever he literally threw at him. To his surprise, Tails just threw a regular pitch, throwing him off slightly and swinging a little early.

"Strike 2-"

"Must you announce it?"

"Well! You know, no one's perfect! You're bound to mess up sometime-

Mario made a face, knowing Child was right. He had good batting skill in the beginning, sank a little at the middle, but came back at the end. That was how he pulled off all his amazing feats. That fact aside, he was still going to hit Tails' pitch. Tails leaned forward a little, brought his arm behind him, then slung the ball over like he was a catapult. Mario swung- he had his precision down, he made light contact with the ball…but it still ended up in Amy's glove.

"Strike 3- you're out!"

Mario raised his hands in defeat, but at least he accepted it. He got a pat from his brother, a hug from Peach on her way to bat, a snort of "So much for your stupid plan", from Wario, and "Nice try" from everyone else.

Tails, meanwhile, was ecstatic that he had gotten Mario out again- and by striking him out! It was almost too much excitement and joy for the 8-year-old to contain! Sonic just stared wide-eyed, more at the fact _Mario_ was struck out than at the fact it was Tails who had done it, Knuckles gave a nod of approval, and everyone else (except Shadow, who maintained his bored expression) clapped and cheered.

"I can't believe I did that!" Tails cheered at the top of his lungs. Peach stepped up to hit and gave an odd grin.

"I hope you try your Star Pitch again!" she giggled. "You looked kinda adorable in the air!"

Half of that statement was true, but no one could tell which was which anyway. Tails gave a light blush while tossing the ball, resulting in giving Peach a foul.

"C'mon Tails- do your Star Pitch!" Peach urged.

"Only if you want another strike!" called Tails on his way up again. Peach gave another one of those grins and prepared her own Star Swing. Tails tossed the ball downward at Peach, but his face froze in fear as he saw her doing her chant.

"Whoo hoo!" Peach squealed, hitting the ball right back at the angle and speed Tails had thrown it. Tails would've moved, if he wasn't mesmerized by that really pretty ball with pink hearts swirling around it…

He hardly noticed when it made contact with his stomach and sent him flying back down to the ground. Sonic ran over and caught Tails while the ball landed in Silver's glove, but it was a Fair because it had ricocheted off of Tails. Waluigi had stayed at second and Peach settled with first.

"This-a game needs some sprucing up!" Wario cackled. "That's why I'm-a here!"

Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Ugh…this won't be good…" Tails groggily said, stumbling back to the pitcher's mound. Wario chortled again at Tails' throw- the hit from Peach threw him off a little. Wario hit it no problem and wobbled to first while Waluigi and Peach athletically sprinted to their bases. The ball was coming for Rouge, but Knuckles wanted it _just_ to get it, while Shadow wanted to get it because it was Wario who had hit it; anyone else and he wouldn't have cared. In a similar fashion to Wario, Waluigi, and Toad, Knuckles and Shadow body slammed Rouge, sending all three to the ground. Knuckles instantly blushed and sweat dropped while Shadow Chaos Controlled into the air and caught the ball…though it bounced out of his glove.

Shadow roared several delirious and incomprehensible things while Rouge howled even louder.

"SHADOW! YOU'RE STEPPING ON ME!"

Shadow's face went blank as he glanced down at Rouge, who he had his foot on, but Knuckles' fist was stuck under her back. Shadow nearly toppled off while both Knuckles and Shadow frantically tried to help her up.

"Rouge!" "I'm so sorry!" "It was his fault!" "I wanted to get Wario out!"

"The ball's still on the ground you know…" Rouge pointed out. Knuckles and Shadow yelped and scrambled for the ball again. Waluigi had already made it home, and Peach wasn't really risking it by going to third. Wario waddled to second, but that's as far as he was going to go. Natalie changed up the score to be tied again as Knuckles grabbed the ball-holding Shadow and threw him. Shadow was aimed perfectly at Peach, ball in outstretched hand, but he just had to get Wario out.

"Chaos Control!" he screamed in the air, instantly teleporting.

"What're you _doing?" _screamed Knuckles. Rouge dusted the dirt off her gloves.

"Ow, I think you two bent my wings!"

"Not now, you old bat- Shadow just ruined my almost out!"

Shadow reappeared over Wario's head with a mad-man's grin.

"Take this, Wario!"

He clonked Wario in the head with the ball, ultimately knocking the plumber down. Shadow landed by the base and started cackling madly. Peach slid to home while the Fireballs, the Blurs, Child, and Natalie all shook their heads, sighing and face palming at the same time.

"Shadow…Wario was already safe…" Toad explained slowly, being the only one who bothered to speak. Shadow stopped laughing, looked down, and saw Wario's foot was still on the base, even before Shadow tagged him.

"…well, I hit him. I'm happy."

And he went back to his position. Mario, Sonic, Child, Knuckles, Luigi, Yoshi, Rouge, and Daisy all smacked their heads. Everyone else simply groaned.

"At least we're in the lead now!" Luigi exclaimed, pepping up the team. Then, he shakily added, "…and we only have one out too…"

Mario pulled his cap over his face and groaned. DK came up to bat, now that all the commotion was mostly over, and got his arm ready to smack the ball. Tails gulped and meekly threw the ball, only for DK to punch it straight into home Run territory. Both Knuckles and Shadow went to Rouge for a Buddy Jump, but collided with each other in the air and allowed the other team two more runs.

"Oh…we're losing our lead!" sighed Blaze, staring at the 15-13 score.

"Oh yes! We gained a lead!" cheered Daisy. Blaze sent her a look from the field. Daisy just grinned and backed off. Toad trotted up next, looking frazzled as usual. Tails had struck Mario out- just think of what he could do to poor little Toad! The mushroom-creature shook nervously while Tails pitched a fast one. Toad swung, but was too late. Tails threw a change-up, Toad was too early.

"This looks really, really bad…" Toad's voice quivered with every word. Whoever said hitting a ball had no pressure, they were _wrong_, that's for sure! Tails tossed a normal ball, Toad prepared to swing…and the bat made contact with a slow motion crack. Toad spun around several times as the ball rocketed over the fence for a home Run.

"Way to go Toad!" Mario's team chanted. Toad stopping spinning and just now realized what happened.

"…I hit a Home Run?"

"YES!"

"HOORAY!"

Toad was so happy he started skipping around the bases, the rest of his team going wild. Meanwhile, Sonic's team was groaning with distress and Tails had collapsed on the pitcher's mound.

"Oh no…"

Natalie changed the score to 16-13, making everyone either recoil or cry out in rapid cheers.

"Keep it up, Yoshi!" Mario called, desperate to keep their lead. He was starting to recall how close Bowser had come to beating them, and was beginning to realize that this game was strikingly similar to the one they had before being declared "unbeatable". Bowser Jr., Red Magikoopa, and Dark Bones were always crashing into each other for the ball, Dry Bones was quite the fouler, Kamek was an excellent fielder- especially pitching, Bowser was the best hitter on their team, and every smack with his club was usually a home run…but poor Hammer bro. wasn't as gifted a hitter as Fire Bro. ,who had almost every hit a homer, second to Bowser, and Boomerang Bro., who managed to curve the ball when he hit it. Worse yet, he was usually the one to get the final out.

Mario shivered. What if that happened to Sonic? The hedgehog would be crushed after that! He'd never look at a baseball again! Shoot, he probably wouldn't be able to look Knuckles in the face.

"If only his ego wasn't so high…" Mario sighed, getting back into the action and realizing that Yoshi already had a strike. Tails' decreasing confidence due to their gaining runs was throwing his game off terribly, and what he threw should've been a ball, but Yoshi swung anyway. Tails threw again, his fears realized when Yoshi hit the ball. Yoshi managed to make it to first, thanks to the fact Silver wasn't paying attention and was hit in the head with the ball.

"Too bad it didn't get stuck in his hairdo!" snickered Waluigi. Silver gave him a very dark look from third base.

It was Luigi's turn now, and since he and Tails were on good terms there was really no conflict. Tails even gave Luigi his trademark smile- but unlike Mario, it had good intentions.

"Fun game, huh?"

"Yeah, a bit lethal, but fun!"

Tails chuckled and threw the ball, which Luigi missed, but threw a change-up which he hit.

"Run, Luigi! RUN!" shrieked Daisy, springing from her seat and flailing her arms. Luigi squalled out before stumbling to first and Yoshi running quickly to second.

"Double play- give me the ball Knuckles!" Sonic called after Knuckles caught the ball rolling on the ground and Cream took position at second base. Knuckles hesitated, but gave the ball to Sonic. He curled up in a Spin Dash position, catapulting the ball to Cream who got Yoshi out. She threw it to Silver, a bit off, but Silver retrieved it with his powers and got Luigi out. Sonic jumped up and pumped his fist.

"YES!"

Child waved her hands to signal the players. "Double play! Third Out! Change sides!"

Tails started to smile again. "I did pretty good…but they still managed to hit the ball. That's okay- I expected that!"

"They'd be at least three runs less if these two knuckles heads weren't fighting for the ball!" Rouge grunted, pointing her thumbs over her shoulders at Knuckles and Shadow. Knuckles gritted his teeth and bared his fans while Shadow made a show of how highly offended he was.

"Who are you calling a Knucklehead? That's his nickname- mine is "the Ultimate Life-Form!"

"Ugh, give it a rest, Shadow…"

"ALL HAIL SHADOW!"

"Seriously. Shut up."

Shadow proceeded to glower after that. Amy pondered the issue and shrugged.

"Well, it's still true- now we're down by 4 runs!"

"Don't worry-_I'll _probably take care of that!" Knuckles chuckled. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"You can't possibly be thinking of_ another _grand slam- there's only two people ahead of you!"

Knuckles waved his hand as if to brush the comment away. "So? I'll either hit a triple or just assist a grand slam!"

"Don't be so full of yourself…"

. . .

"We're winning!" "I hit a home run!" "I actually stole a base!" "I got stuck out by a mutant two-tailed fox!"

Everyone got silent.

"Way to ruin the mood Mario."

"Ook."

Mario raised his hands. "Just wanted to announce what _I_ accomplished that half!"

_Fifth Inning Bottom- Blurs hitting, Fireballs pitching_  
_Current Score: 16-13_  
_Next Three Up To Bat- Cream, Blaze, Knuckles_  
_Fifth Inning Mario Pitcher: Luigi_  
_Fielding Positions: Yoshi, Waluigi, and Toad in outfield, Wario left field, Peach right field, Daisy home base, DK first base, and Mario third base._

Luigi did some stretches on the pitcher's mound before shouting, "Oh yeah!" Tails happily waved to him while Silver said to stop being friendly with the enemy. Not that he didn't like Luigi himself, it just didn't seem to fit the spirit.

"There's nothing wrong with being nice, you know!" Tails said in a matter-of-fact tone. Silver raised his hands and groaned.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Sheesh, why is everything that I say wrong! Curse my script!"

"Hi Mister Luigi! Please be careful with the ball, I've heard you have a really wild pitch…" Cream gulped. The current pitcher just chuckled at her statement.

"I have no idea what you're talking about…"

He threw his Star Pitch, sent the ball in a furious tornado, and unintentionally beaned Cream and sent her flying a few feet away. Luigi cringed and looked away while Child started screaming at him.

"Okay, that was a_ total_ Bean! She asks you to go easy and you knock her off the plate?"

"I-I was trying to prove that I didn't have a wild pitch-"

"Well that certainly didn't help anything! Take your base, Cream…"

"Thank you, Miss Child…"

"I liked Lakitu better…"

"I _heard _that, Luigi!"

Luigi just whimpered and watched as Blaze walked up, giving a dark glare because he Beaned Cream. The plumber weakly tossed the ball, and after being struck by Blaze's bat, it transformed center field in a blazing tornado. Luigi yelped and dove for the ground as it spiraled in flames over his head. Cream laughed and skipped to second without any worries as Blaze sped to first, despite the fact the ball wouldn't be caught anytime soon. Wario casually tried to catch it, but end up lighting his hand in flames, farting out of fear, making the flames _worse_, and performing the "Stop, Drop, and Roll" ritual. Peach sighed and gave the ball back to Luigi.

"Thanks…" he waved to her, then turned around to see Knuckles with the smuggest grin known to man. "Oh, fear…a lot of fear…"

"Just throw the ball and get it over with Luigi!" Knuckles assured, still with that intimidating smile. Luigi let out a battle cry and threw it as hard as he possibly could, yet he threw it completely out of batting range.

"Ball 1!"

Knuckles shook his head, making Luigi twist his cap before throwing a change-up. To his shock, Knuckles suddenly threw up his bat and charged up a punch. When the ball came back down, he punched it in a DK fashion and sent it flying awfully low to the ground- but _fast_.

"What the heck was that?" Yoshi yelped.

"That…was his Star Swing…" Toad gaped, watching as the echidna rushed to first. They used Mario's strategy, and each person running the bases only ran one, even though Cream could've gone to home pretty safely. Knuckles' ball flew straight into the back wall- if it had been a little higher, it would've been a home run.

"Darn it!" exclaimed Knuckles. "Oh well- can't be great all the time!"

Sonic just flat-out snorted.

"Why are you grunting; that's exactly something _you_ would say!" muttered Shadow.

"That's the point! He's totally stealing my personality!"

"C'mon Luigi! She's a fouler!" Peach called when Amy pulled out her hammer. Amy gave her girlish growl and stared Peach down.

"Remember what Knuckles said…" she trailed to herself, drumming her fingers along the handle of her hammer. "Less power, more precision!"

She slung her hammer over her shoulder.

"Ho-ho!"

Luigi threw his Star Swing again, hoping to mess Amy's focus up. Amy didn't falter, and waited for the right moment to swing and eased up on her power. With a really dramatic crack, it went flying into Peach's part of the field and a little of Toad's portion.

"Everybody run!" wailed Silver. Cream ran as fast as her little legs could take her to home plate, which she got away with. Toad grabbed the ball before Peach could reach it and gave it to Mario who got Blaze out. Mario chucked the ball to Peach at second who was waiting for Knuckles, but Knuckles used his dig move to avoid getting out. He knocked Peach to the ground, called out "Sorry!" and continued for third while Amy ran for second. Peach flipped back up and hurried to get Amy out.

"That wasn't fair!" Amy exclaimed, seeing the ball beat her to the base.

"Oh, did I get you out?"

"Shut up!"

"PEACH!" Yoshi cried at the top of his lung, rapidly waving his arms for the ball. Peach, with a pretty good arm herself, quickly gave Yoshi the ball. The green dinosaur whirled around on his foot to face his target, which was Knuckles stomping his foot on third and still going for home. Yoshi revved up his arm and wound the pitch farther than he ever did before.

"Not this time…HUP!"

Yoshi threw the ball harder and faster than Knuckles ever could, just about guaranteeing Knuckles out. Knuckles might've been a bad runner, but he was almost to home, and was so bent on his victory he didn't even think the ball was still in play. Knuckles was getting ready to place his foot on home, giving his team another run, another victory, more glory…until something as hard as rock with a stinging pain crashed into Knuckles' arms, causing him to scream out, stumble over his feet, and fly at least seven feet right into the wall of Mario Stadium.

"AAAAAAUUUUGGGHHH!" Knuckles shouted the entire time. He was soaring in the air- not kidding- and crashed his head on the wall, However, he was still grabbing his arm and partially his side. The ball, which had traveled with Knuckles on his painful journey, fell lifelessly not too far from where he currently lay. The entire Stadium fell into quite an uncomfortable silence.

"…3rd out…change sides…" Child whispered, loud enough to announce it, but not so loud to seem like she wasn't concerned for Knuckles lying in a red heap covered with dirt, because she definitely was.

Natalie was the one to break the silence by jumping off the scoreboard, landing on her feet, and shouting out "KNUCKLES!"

This seemed to snap everyone out of the shock and sprint toward Knuckles too. Everyone started shouting Knuckles' name, except Yoshi who was yelping that he honestly didn't mean for that to happen!

"Knuckles! Knuckles, I'm _so_ sorry! Please don't punch my nose in! I'm seriously sorry-" Yoshi babbled.

"Yoshi, he's unconscious. You'll have to apologize later," Blaze stated quietly. Wario whistled.

"That must've been _some _head-bump!"

"You have no respect for anyone, do you?" snapped Amy.

"What're we supposed to do? He needs medical attention!" Toad cried.

"I thought we were in the middle of a baseball game?" questioned Shadow.

"A member of your own team is down and you're worried about the _game?_" Daisy huffed. Shadow huffed and turned his nose to the sky.

"I don't even want to_ be_ here-"

"HEY!" Child shouted. "We're taking Knuckles to the hospital. It's a good time for a break anyway. We'll pick up the sixth inning when he's all good again and, if necessary, get someone to replace Knuckles if he can't play anymore. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded. Mario told everyone to follow him to the hospital while Silver lifted Knuckles with his powers, making getting him there a lot easier.

**Hospital, Somewhere in Toad Town-**

All the characters took up the entire waiting room, leaving other waiting people standing and staring oddly. Most people were worried about Knuckles, some truly didn't care, and two in particular were especially sensitive about the situation. No guess for which two people.

Mario sat in his chair, eyes wide and just staring into the distance. Watching Knuckles…that had happened to Luigi before…back when Princess Peach first established the Baseball Kingdom and they were having a "friendly match" against Wario's team. At first, it didn't look like anything bad, but later on…

**Cue Flashback-**

_The Fireballs were in the lead, but in order to keep that lead they have to prevent DK on the other team from getting a run. Mario pitched; DK punched the living daylights out if it. Yoshi caught it and threw it to Peach in midair, despite the fact Wario and Waluigi threw bombs at him, Peach gave it to Mario, and Mario pitched it to Luigi as fast as he could throw. Luigi was all set to catch it, but DK was all set to reach home. He bulldozed Luigi out of the way, sending him tumbling, skidding on his arm, and thudding into the blue wall of Mario Stadium._

_"Oh my! Luigi!" Daisy shrieked. Everyone in the audience gasped, Mario turning around to stare at his brother. He had gotten up, happy he had caught the ball and prevented the other team from winning. Everyone was so proud of Luigi…and no one was more so than Mario. But later…_

_"M-Mario…" Luigi whimpered. "It hurts…"_

_Mario, sitting at the kitchen table, just blinked. "What're you talking about, Luigi?"_

_He rolled up his right sleeve to show a burn he had gotten from the grass, a bruise from how hard DK shoved him out of the way, a small bump on his head from slamming it into the wall, and Luigi was complaining his back was throbbing._

_Luigi couldn't play baseball for at least two weeks- more was recommended._

_Over exaggerated, Mario thought, but the doctor had confirmed that too much strain on a body, even with minor pain, could have long lasting effects._

_And Mario didn't argue._

**End Flashback-**

"Some story! Glad you were whispering quietly, or we couldn't hear!" a girl's voice exclaimed. "That's really dramatic right there..."

"I never knew that before Mario…" a guy's voice, teenager in origin. Mario snapped out of his trance and glanced at Child and Sonic sitting next to him with sympathetic faces. Child explained he was saying everything he was thinking aloud.

"So _you eavesdropped_?" Mario questioned, a bit annoyed. Sonic shrugged, turning away in an abashed manner.

"It _was _interesting! But…" he glanced at the floor. "Do you think Knuckles will have it that bad?"

"I don't mean to sound negative, but he hit his head, was knocked unconscious, probably sprained his arm, and his knuckles spur jabbed into his side…" Child muttered.

"…and I don't mean to sound negative when I agree with her, because I was a doctor once, and that's exactly what I would've said…" added Mario. Sonic groaned and felt his face fall in his hands.

"Since when do plumbers become doctors?" Child asked. "They're on opposite sides of the job chain!"

"It's a long story."

"Poor Knuckles… he finally found something he was good at, and now he's probably paralyzed or something!"

"I'm sure it's not that bad, Sonic…" Mario assured. Sonic just sighed again.

"I wish it was me and not him. Our team would be better off without _me_- one less easy out per inning, one more chance for Knuckles to shine. We'd definitely have a better chance of beating you if I wasn't here."

"Stop being so hard on yourself! I'll never know how you can possibly turn any situation around to make it seem like your fault," Child stated.

"I really hope Knuckles is okay…" Tails quivered, sitting next to Luigi and getting a chance to talk before they were separated once more. "I mean, I truly do want him to get better, but what will we do about the game? I don't think there's anyone who could replace him!"

"I know how Knuckles'll feel, that's for sure…" commented Luigi. "I've had a similar experience, but I turned out fine!"

Tails gave a sad smile. "Yeah…but Knuckles' condition is worse than being plowed over…"

Rouge sat quietly in the darkest corner, sitting next to, and in the order of, Shadow, Wario, Waluigi, Silver, Toad, Cream, Amy, Peach, Blaze, Daisy and Yoshi, who was rocking back and forth in the chair, mesmerized into saying that he "honestly didn't mean it". Daisy was getting tired of it, but she knew Yoshi felt truly guilty and said nothing.

"I can't believe something so terrible happen to Knuckles!" sobbed Cream, her little mind not able to contain tears. Both Toad and Amy patted her back. "He didn't deserve it- he just didn't!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Yoshi exclaimed like an alarm. "I was lost in the moment or something-I lost control- I need to be sent to jail!"

"Calm down Yoshi. No one's going to jail…" Peach murmured.

"You guys are very dramatic. You're acting like Knuckles died!" Shadow huffed.

"He's in consideration for intensive care!" Amy boomed.

"Well sorry! I didn't happen to receive that memo!"

"Hope you receive THIS!-" Poot.

"OH JEEZ WARIO!" "Not in the hospital…" "All the patients are gonna die!" "Oh good freaking GOD- it's a really bad one!"

Shadow sprung to the other side of the room and hid behind a plant. "Oh Lord; I was **NEXT** to that!"

Just then, a nurse started to come out saying that they could all go see Knuckles, but the entire group minus a cackling Wario shoved the nurse back through the door and slammed it shut behind them.

After that, they had to quarantine the room and place Wario in a plastic bag- with air holes unfortunately.

**Knuckles' Room-**

The Nurse Toad, Help U., was leading everyone to where Knuckles was, explaining things along the way. "Now, be very gentle and very quiet. This is a really sensitive room-"

"KNUCKLES! KNUCKLES, I'M SO SORRY! I HONESTLY DIDN'T MEAN IT-"

"YOSHI!"

"SHUSH!"

"Sorry…"

Knuckles was propped up in a bad, in really bad shape. His head was wrapped, his right arm was in a cast, his right side was bandaged, and he was oddly paler than usual. Sonic took one look, winced, and turn away. Yoshi fainted from all the damage he had caused, and everyone else gathered around Knuckles.

"Ohmigosh, what in this world happened to you Knuckles?" Natalie gasped. Knuckles just gave a chuckle.

"Um…let's see, I bumped my head really bad, so I might get dizzy really easily, I broke my arm, stabbed my side, and I can hardly walk because a shock waved through my entire body."

"Yoshi's really sorry…" Daisy spoke on his behalf.

"I know- I could even hear him when I was unconscious!"

Everyone laughed until Shadow popped the question- and it wasn't THAT question.

"How long can't you do anything-like play baseball?"

Knuckles pondered. "Um…it'll take two weeks for my arm to heal, three for my stab wound, and they're not sure about my head and dizziness- they'll need the x-rays to develop to confirm anything. But if you add another week for "resting up", that's around a month-"

"A MONTH?" yelped Yoshi, briefly waking up only to faint again.

"Who are we going to get to replace Knuckles?" Blaze asked.

"We can't replace Knuckles! It's just not fair!" Cream cried.

"Either that or we forfeit!" Tails pointed out, "…and I don't want to do that."

"We could get rid of someone on our team!" Luigi suggested.

"Then we wouldn't have enough people to fill all positions, on either team," Toad said. Luigi made a face.

"Not necessarily…I could play home base for both teams and still umpire!" Child put out.

"But that leaves the question of who we're kicking off _our_ team…" Mario trialed.

"It should be _me!_" Yoshi wailed dramatically, getting up off the floor and bowing at Knuckles' bedside. "I've crippled this poor soul, and I deserve to be punished!"

"…Did he just call me crippled?"

"I'd be happy to do it!" Toad cheerfully said.

Peach shook her head. "You haven't had a chance to pitch though- it should be someone who's already pitched. It's only fair."

"It should be ME-"

"No, Yoshi, we still need you."

"I say you get rid of Wario!" Shadow threw out with a snicker.

"Wario hasn't pitched either, Shadow."

"Dang it!"

DK raised his hand to go. Mario turned to DK.

"Are you sure about that DK? You're one of our top players!"

DK nodded.

"It does even things up a bit," Silver realized. "Both teams don't have powerful hitters anymore!"

"Then we're settled!" Natalie announced. "DK and Knuckles are cut from the game, meaning both teams now have eight players, and no positions are lost because Child will be playing home base for both teams."

"I'm such a neutral kind-of person."

"One last little thing though…" Rouge started, jerking her thumb in the direction of the echidna. "What do we do with Knuckles?"

Knuckles nodded. "Yeah, I'd at least like to watch the game!"

"The nurse says you can go, but you absolutely can't do anything like a hooligan," Sonic explained, walking back up to the group. "Her words, not mine. So don't go on an anger rampage, okay?"

Silver sighed before wrapping Knuckles in a psychic shield. "I've got him then…"

"Careful Silver! Don't damage him anymore-"

"We get it Yoshi! You're sorry!"

With Knuckles highly injured, DK removing himself from the team, Child playing for both teams, and Mario and Sonic still dawdling over their own problems, how will the second half of the baseball game of the century go?

With these two crazy teams, you can never really tell.


	7. Sixth Inning

Mario vs. Sonic in a Game of Baseball

Sixth Inning

_Sixth Inning Top- Fireballs hitting, Blurs pitching  
__Current Score: 16-14  
__Next Three Up To Bat- Daisy, Waluigi, Mario  
__Sixth Inning Sonic Pitcher: Cream the Rabbit_

_Fielding Positions: Silver, Rouge, and Shadow in outfield, Tails left field, Amy right field, Sonic first base, and Blaze third base._

"This is great. We're behind, and we don't even have Knuckles…" Rouge grumbled. Knuckles was sitting in the stands next to DK, and both were cheering for their respective teams. It was now nighttime, meaning that the lighthouse just off the coast of the stadium was lit up, and the stadium itself was lit up. Everyone kinda thought it looked a lot cooler at night too.

"I hope I can pitch well…" Cream said nervously, eyeing Daisy up first to bat. At last, it was Cream's turn to pitch.

"You'll do fine Cream!" Blaze assured, giving Daisy a warning glance. Daisy just grunted.

"Okay! Here I go!"

Cream threw the pitch, but in a similar way to Toadsworth, her pitch was quite slow. Daisy had to wait a few moments before swinging to actually hit the ball. It went flying over little Cream's head, causing Tails to run to second to try and catch it. Amy also wanted to catch it, which she did, but her lack of arm wasn't fast enough to get Daisy out.

"Oh yeah! In your face!" the tom-boyish princess sang happily, jumping up and down on the plate. Tails gave Amy a look.

"You should've let me catch the ball!"

"Well I like to get in on the action too, ya know!"

"Shut up so the little girl can pitch!" snapped Waluigi. Cream blinked and realized this could be her chance for even more revenge- despite the fact she wasn't really a revenge sort of person. First, she threw the ball at her height, which compared to Waluigi, meant the ball hit him right between the legs. The purple plumber let out a wail of pain before collapsing onto the plate while Cream stifled laughter and Daisy flat-out cracked up.

"I could watch that all day!" she howled. "Cream gets points for that!"

"You know that's…a bean, Cream…" Child managed to get out in-between spurts of laughter. Cream put on an innocent look.

"Oops- forgot!"

Waluigi gave a murderous glare as he hobbled to first, Daisy still laughing on her way to second.

"Get serious now, Cream!" Blaze called. Cream gave a nod and threw her Star Pitch at Mario. In at least a thousand happy faces, one of them was the ball, and Mario couldn't figure out which was which until Cheese popped out, holding the ball, then flew down and touch the plate. Mario got a strike.

"Strike one!"

"What kind of a move is that!" Mario complained.

"One that sure makes me happy!" squeaked Cream. "Sorry, Mr. Mario!"

Mario smacked his head. Cream threw another slower ball that Mario hit after making sure it wouldn't end up anywhere near Tails. Instead, it headed toward Sonic, and Mario knew that was just as bad if not worse. Sonic did a massive jump into the air, gloved hand reached out to catch the ball. A definite shining moment!…if the ball hadn't bounced out of his glove. Mario's face brightened up as he hurried to first, Daisy made a double for home, and Waluigi stayed at second. Sonic scrambled for the ball, then chucked it at home. Child readied her glove to catch the ball, but Daisy as the last moment performed her spin and knocked Child completely out of the way.

"Oomph! You know, things like that can make a person biased!" Child huffed, blowing stray hair out of her face. Natalie, on the other hand started cracking up on the scoreboard after changing it to 17-14.

"Good job Daisy!"

"Whose side are YOU on?"

Daisy just folded her arms. "It's still safe…"

Child got back in position as Peach gave Daisy a high five on her way up to bat. Cream jumped up to attempt to throw a hard ball, but Peach hit it with ease anyway. Waluigi swiftly moved to third and Mario followed toward second. Peach's ball went toward Blaze, which Blaze managed to catch, but was unable to get Waluigi out thanks to a pretty impressive slide. The cat sighed and tossed the ball to Amy at second, but was also too late to get Mario out. Amy just gave up and let Peach have first by giving Cream back the ball.

"Wow. We're even more terrible than usual this inning!" Silver commented.

"We're terrible anyway you look at it…" muttered Shadow.

Cream stared wide-eyed as Wario hobbled up to the plate next, looking quite a bit confident. She didn't want to predict the trick he'd pull off.

"Just be lucky if the ball doesn't bounce off his huge stomach!" Waluigi snickered. Daisy instantly turned around and smacked him.

"Don't encourage the other team! That'll give them a boost…somehow…"

"Do you even know what you're saying? Sometime I wonder…"

"WHAT are you implying?"

Waluigi was about to reply, until he was practically knocked out cold by a baseball striking him not too hard in the head, but enough to knock him down. Wario snickered while Cream raised an eyebrow.

"What happened?" Peach asked worriedly.

"Wario hit the baseball backward…" Cream explained.

"I'm not sure if that was a hit, strike, foul, ball, or bean!" Child murmured, scratching her head.

Cream shrugged. "I just threw a simple pitch…"

"Next time, aim for Wario's gigantic nose!" called Shadow frantically.

Child rolled her eyes. "No, Shadow…"

"Stop getting in the way of my dreams!"

Cream threw another pitch; Wario struck it without a problem. As usual, Shadow wanted to be the one to get Wario out. This time, no one bothered to mess with him. If Shadow screwed up, then they could say it was completely his fault. Waluigi took three long strides to home, Peach literally flipped into third, and Mario would usually have to worry about second, but Shadow was going after Wario.

"Your out will be mine!"

Shadow skated over to the ball and scooped it up, then chucked it toward Wario/ Sonic. Sonic jumped up and caught it, giving the team their first out, but yet another run.

"Out 1!"

"Mwahahahahaha!"

"Take it easy Shadow…"

"Score's now 18-14..."

"STOP reminding us!"

Natalie folded her arms and pouted. "Well, it's not very fun up here, you know!"

Toad skipped up to bat, actually feeling a lot more confident than before. Cream gave him a warm smile and gently tossed the ball. Toad swung in perfect sync with it, and the ball could only be describes as "flying".

"Don't let it go over the fence!" wailed Silver. Rouge and Shadow exchanged a nod and jumped up, but, unfortunately, were too late and missed the ball. Toad, again, hit a home run…plus a Grand Slam.

"CREAM!"

"Way to go!"

"I just threw it! I just threw it!" Cream shrieked, looking like she was getting ready to cry.

"It wasn't really her fault Toad hit the ball," Tails defended.

"Yeah, and it's also not her fault you guys SUCK!" added Wario, high fiving Waluigi as he ran back into the batting area. DK was going bananas in the stands while Knuckles shook his hung head. Child didn't know what to say, but Natalie could be heard groaning loudly when changing the score to 22-14.

"Good Chaos…we really do suck…"

Sonic's team was now in despair while Mario's was getting ready to break out into a song and dance. Luigi and Yoshi were dancing around, until Toad reminded him it was Yoshi's turn. Yoshi grabbed his bat and scurried to the base.

"We're, like, so unbeatable at this point!" Daisy shrieked. Mario shook his head.

"It's only the sixth inning. Many things can happen within 3 and a half innings…"

Waluigi walked up to Mario and tisked. "Mario, Mario, Mario…no need to be so modest and humble! It's so obvious the removal of their star player is breaking them apart! It's in the bag now!"

Mario folded his arms and turned away. "I believe otherwise."

"They're down 8 points- and there's no mercy either!"

Yoshi stood at bat, waiting for Cream to pitch. Cream almost didn't want to.

"What're ya waiting for Cream?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, I'd like to lose TODAY, if you don't mind…" muttered Shadow.

"We are not going to lose!" snapped Rouge.

"Rouge, stop telling the world lies."

Cream threw the ball, then winced and turned away out of fear. Yoshi hit the ball with great strength, even hard enough to be compared with Knuckles. DK clapped while Knuckles widened his eyes. The ball went soaring towards Tails, but Silver appeared out of nowhere and crashed into him. Yoshi was at first within moments. Tails shoved Silver off of him and glared at the hedgehog. Silver grinned nervously.

"I swear I didn't see even you there…"

Tails just sighed and drooped his ears. "…seriously?"

Cream pitched to Luigi- Luigi ended up with two strikes and a foul. Cream perked up at her possible chance, then used her Star Pitch. Luigi didn't know what hit him, and ended up getting out.

Cream started to cheer, "Hooray!" until Daisy strolled up to bat snarling. Instead, she let out a squeak of "Uh oh…"

Daisy grinned evil as he readied her bat. "Oh yes. Uh oh indeed."

Cream revved up her pitch, not letting Daisy's intimidation get to her.

"Jeez, we're already back to the first batter of this inning!" exclaimed Luigi, at the same time giving Daisy a good luck sign.

"How many outs are we at?" asked Toad.

"Just one…" murmured Child.

Cream finally threw the ball, going right behind Daisy's back.

"Ball 1!"

Next, Cream pitched it right over the plate- slowly.

"Strike 1!"

Daisy frowned as Cream tossed her next throw so fast, it made Daisy's hair blow in the brief wind.

"Strike 2!"

"Get into it Daisy!" yelled Peach, Yoshi, and Waluigi. Daisy trembled slightly at the mighty 6-year old on the pitchers mound. Cream even smirked a little as she spun the ball in her palm before using her Star Pitch. Daisy tried to swing, despite being blinded by smiles and getting hit by Cheese, but she missed terribly, and Cream the Rabbit got her out.

"Out 2!" called Child.

"Nice one Daisy!" Wario snorted as Waluigi stepped up to bat. Daisy gave him a snarl and nearly hit him over the head with her golden yellow bat.

"Like you could do better?"

"Not with that insane black hedgehog out there…what did I ever do to him?"

"I'll refuse to even answer that…"

Knuckles grumbled something in the stands while DK seemed simply worried, despite the fact his team was winning. Waluigi put on his intent glare, but something unnerved him by the look on Cream's face. Man, it looked like that girl was out for revenge! He readied his bat, which didn't even have a chance to hit the fastball that whizzed by him.

"Strike 1!"

"Whoa what was _that?" _Waluigi spat. Cream just shrugged as Child tossed the ball back. She threw it again, which Waluigi bunted. Child grabbed the ball and threw it to Sonic, who caught it stylishly but missed the chance to get Waluigi out. The lanky plumber was already almost to second, so Sonic quickly tossed the ball to Blaze, who caught it just before Yoshi became safe.

"Three outs! Change sides!" Child called. Sonic's team sighed with relief as Mario's started celebrating like no tomorrow.

"If we do super-good this inning, and get them out almost instantly, there's no WAY they can win without Knuckles!" cheered Daisy.

"Jeez, you make it seem like Knuckles getting injured was a good thing…" Luigi trailed, eyeing Daisy suspiciously.

"Well, no, of course it isn't, but the truth is…losing Knuckles really will do a blow to them!"

Yoshi started up again. "I'M SO SOR-"

"Yoshi, please don't…"

_"I'm sorry…"_

"I just think it's a miracle they were finally able to get us out!" snorted Wario, headed for right field.

Mario said nothing.

"Ugh, we're doing TERRIBLE!" wailed Tails. "If Silver hadn't flown into me-"

"I didn't **see** you! Maybe if Shadow wasn't so hell-bent on annihilating Wario-"

"YOU'LL NEVER UNDERSTAND!"

"Rouge should've helped out more…"

"Blaze needed more air in her jump…"

"Tails could stand to be faster…"

"Sonic just sucks period-"

"QUIET SHADOW!"

"Arguing isn't going to help us any!" cried Cream. Sonic nodded.

"Yeah, this is like the WORST time to do that!"

Amy gasped, "And Knuckles can't give us a pep talk!"

"…Amy, I'M captain…"

"Oh, well, I KNOW, but Knuckles was pretty inspirational…"

"And I'M not?"

Everyone exchanged hushed whispers. Sonic raised an eyebrow. "…what?"

"You say it!" "No way am I getting on his bad side!" "You say something!" "NO!"

"Sonic you truly are terrible at baseball," Shadow stated simply. Sonic's eyes popped out.

"Way to be subtle about it! Jeez!"

"Your batting isn't really that great…" Amy admitted, scratching her head.

"Your catching is though…" Tails shrugged.

"Yeah, whenever it reaches him," whispered Silver. "Which is NEVER."

"You're good at running the bases!" tried Blaze, recalling the one and only time he hit the ball.

"Too bad he can't hit to be ABLE to run," snickered Rouge.

"Okay, that's enough talking!" Sonic snapped, cutting the discussion short. "Anyway, the point is I CAN give a good pep talk!"

"Then why are we still talking about your lack of skill?" questioned Shadow. Sonic was about to retort until Child yelled at them to get into the batting order already and to quit lingering around.

"…we'll finish this later!"

"Do we have to?"

_Sixth Inning Bottom- Blurs hitting, Fireballs pitching  
__Current Score: 22-14  
__Next Three Up To Bat- Shadow, Rouge, Tails  
__Sixth Inning Mario Pitcher: Toad  
__  
__Fielding Positions: Mario, Yoshi, and Waluigi in outfield, Luigi left field, Wario right field, Peach first base, and Daisy third base._

"…Shadow goes up to bat…and the crowd does not go crazy…except that crowd of my fan girls in the corner…"

He glanced at the corner of the stadium where a special area was reserved for girls to sit and rapidly scream his name. Toad was also staring until there was a shout of, "HEY! NO GAWKING AT MY FANS!"

"Sorry, sorry! But…they seem pretty fire up-"

"Just pitch…"

Toad shrugged and tossed the ball; Shadow hit it, dropped the bat, and took off. It was headed for Wario, but as Wario tried to backpedal for it he tripped over his stubby little legs and fell. Shadow cheered wickedly as he rounded for second. Peach luckily dashed over and grabbed the ball, throwing it to Daisy. Shadow slid to the base just as Daisy caught the ball. Both of them turned to Child to see what the call was.

"…safe?"

"YES!"

Daisy muttered something under her breath as she gave the ball back to Toad and Rouge strutted up.

"This should be interesting…" she mused. Rouge held the baseball bat over her shoulder, Toad throwing a Star Pitch which only made the ball go faster than usual. Nevertheless, it was still a-"

"Strike 1!"

"C'mon Rouge! Get me home!" Shadow called.

"Get her out, Toad!" cried Peach, Luigi, and Yoshi.

"Sheesh, no pressure here…" the albino bat grunted. Toad gave a weak smile and threw again, this time prompting Rouge to bunt it. Child grabbed it and touched home, getting Shadow out and ran over by an outraged hedgehog.

"Out 1!"

"That was _not_ an out- it was an unfortunate misplacing of the ball!"

"Whatever Shadow…"

Child stood up and tossed the ball to Luigi, waiting at second base. Rouge tumbled under the ball, touched the base, then kept going. Luigi was so jumbled he caught the ball but stumbled backwards.

"Luigi! Over here!" Daisy shouted, jumping up and down frantically.

"Run, Rouge! RUN!" Knuckles wailed, trying his best not to spring out of his seat.

"Oo! Ooo!"

It was a race against Rouge and the baseball as they both soared toward Daisy. They both reached the third baseman at the same time, but Rouge bent down with an extended leg, which hit Daisy who had one foot on the base, and sent her falling.

"oomph!"

"Safe!"

"Yeah!" cheered Knuckles. Rouge just looked at Daisy, then her leg, then back again.

"Way too close…"

Daisy stood up, brushed herself off, then glared at Rouge.

"Luckily little-"

"Okay! My turn!" Tails cried, ready to hit the ball. Toad, who really couldn't be intimidating, just simply threw the ball once again. Tails struck it hard and sent it flying into Home Run territory. The team in the dugout went berserk, the outfields started to scramble, and Rouge went diving for home plate.

"Safe!" Child cried as Rouge touched first, cuing Natalie to change the score to 22-15. Meanwhile, Tails was headed to second as the ball was getting ready to fly over the fence for a home run. Mario thought fast- _Yoshi!_

"Yoshi! Give me a boost!" Mario called, already running to the green dinosaur. Yoshi gave a nod and already had his hands in position. The heroic plumber took the boost and was propelled into the air, crying out, "Woo hoo!" when he caught the ball and got Tails out.

"Aw man…" Tails moped, after hearing Child announce their second out already.

"Don't sweat it Tails," Sonic said, dragging his bat up to the plate again. "That's more of a hit than I could get…"

"Uh, just a little point out Sonic…" Tails gulped, looking at the score. "Uh…we've got two outs already, so um, uh…just do your best!"

Sonic made a face. "You can just say, "Don't get the third out though we already know you will", you know."

"Well I didn't want to be so upfront and frank about it!" Tails protested. "You may not be the great hitter in the world, but why bring down your confidence anymore than it needs to be?"

Sonic just shrugged and prepared to hit the ball. Toad lightly tossed the ball to and from his glove.

"Are you ready, Sonic?" he asked nicely.

Sonic sighed. "Yeah…just hit me with it."

Toad nodded and threw- only to conk Sonic in the head with the ball.

"Bean ball! Batter takes first!"

Sonic stared wide-eyed at Toad. "I didn't mean literally!"

Toad was grinning completely sheepishly and scratching the back of the head. "Uh, sorry that was completely an accident…but at least you get the base!"

Sonic, in a daze and also rubbing the throbbing pain to his head, trotted off to first.

"Nice going, Toad!" spat Wario, who was in the middle of picking his nose. Toad didn't know what to say until Cream was up to bat.

"I think what you did was very nice, Mr. Toad…" she said with a smile. Toad grinned and threw the ball. Cream's smile grew into a grin as she fired up her Star Swing. "But I'm nicer!"

The ball was headed for home, but it just missed the edge of the fence and instead hit Waluigi in the head.

"She's such an adorable girl…there's no way I can just get her out!" the plumber was forced to say.

"Can't…throw ball…" trembled Yoshi.

"It wouldn't be very nice!" Mario blared out.

"Ugh, talk about the kind of attitudes I don't like…" sighed Shadow.

"Dear Chaos, he told a joke…" muttered Silver.

Cream braked at second as Sonic sped over third. "Stop Sonic! Go back!"

"Why? I'm the fastest thing alive- I'll make it!"

"No! Stop!"

Sonic braked for Cream's sake, now able to see the ball Luigi threw soaring for Child's glove. He quickly took a U-turn and stayed put on third.

"Dang! I _just_ made it…" Sonic trailed, watching the ball land in Daisy's glove right as he returned. "You've got some arm, Child!"

"Thanks…too bad I have terrible aim…"

Silver floated up to bat, not really sure what to make of the situation. His only goal: hit it. Toad threw Star Pitch; Silver used his Star Swing, stopped the bat, then hit it into the Foul area.

"Fo-"

_"I know!"_

"Take it easy there, Silver…" Toad stated. Silver made a face and swung in time with Toad's pitch, this time sending it over to Waluigi. He ran for first, Cream to third, and Sonic to home. Waluigi barely caught the ball, received a Fair, then used his super-throwing skill the zip the ball to home plate. However, the ball went of course, aimed to hit Sonic instead.

"Sonic! Duck!" shouted Knuckles. DK covered his eyes. Sonic didn't dare look- he bent over backward and watched the baseball just miss skimming his face. It made a small thud when it hit the wall, prompting Child to go after it and leaving home base open for Sonic.

"I made a run!" Sonic cried. "…hooray?"

He looked over his shoulder to see his team yelling at Cream to keep going and for Silver to stop. Silver did stop, and Cream did keep going. Sonic put on a look as he trotted to the dugout. Meanwhile, Child threw the ball to Daisy while running to first, then had Daisy throw it back to get Cream out faster. Cream gasped, then turned and ran back for third.

"What?" Daisy exclaimed, seeing the ball come back to her and Cream running toward her also.

"Go Cheese!" Cream cried as her beloved pet Chao flew out of her pocket.

"Chao!"

Cheese flew to Daisy, then started to hug her face so she couldn't see.

"Hey! Cheating! Cheating!" Daisy cried, running around trying to get the Chao off her face.

"I told you these kind of things can make a person biased…" Child smirked. "But either way, it's not against the rules. So it's not cheating."

Cream called for Cheese to return once she was safe, also receiving a deadly look from Daisy. The princess threw the ball to Toad as Blaze stepped up to bat.

"23-16!" Natalie called randomly, in an attempt to get more screen time. Everyone gave her a look until Blaze told Toad to throw it already. Toad did so, Blaze hit it, and chaos ensued. Cream sprinted for home, Silver awkwardly ran for third, and Blaze made a mad-dash for first. Luigi picked the ball up after it landed directly behind him, then threw it to Child, but Cream was already safe. Silver had stopped at third, but Blaze was still going for second. Child threw the ball up to Wario, who wasn't paying a lick of attention. It landed at his feet and snapped back to reality as Blaze rushed by him. Silver saw her coming and cringed as he was forced to run again.

"Wario! Come ON!" yelled Yoshi.

"Heh heh heh…" Shadow cackled evilly. Rouge smacked him upside the head.

"You really need to get a grip…"

Wario finally scooped up the ball and threw it to Daisy instead of Child, giving Silver the run. Natalie gave the Blurs 2 more points. Waluigi made plans to smack Wario with a bat, Blaze ran past Daisy and still made a sprint for home, and Daisy threw the ball to Child.

"C'mon Blaze! Please!" wailed Silver.

Blaze lit up in a fiery tornado again, forcing Child to back off away from the ball and give Blaze the run.

"22-19!"

Child grabbed her heart to try to calm it down. "Jeez…I was almost toast! Literally!"

"Sorry about that…" Blaze admitted. "I was up in the spur of the moment…"

"That's two more runs than necessary if Wario hadn't completely picked his brains out!" complained Peach.

"Well, sorry but it was _really _wedged-"

"EW! No need to describe!"

Amy walked up to the plate and slung her hammer over her shoulder. "Huh. I really didn't think I'd get to hit!"

"Neither did I…" agreed Toad truthfully, preparing the pitch.

"Remember Amy!" Knuckles called as DK demonstrated how she should hit (and getting yelled at by Daisy about whose side he was on).

Amy's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah!"

She adjusted her pose just in time to swing at Toad's fast pitched ball. Time seemed to freeze as she knocked the sucker right out of the park. Child threw up her hands.

"Home run!"

"Yes! Woo-hoo! I can't believe it!" Amy cried as she rounded the bases. When she passed the side Knuckles was sitting at, he gave her a thumbs up.

"Good job, Amy."

Amy gave a light smile. "If only you were still in the game…"

Knuckles shrugged. "Meh, its still kinda fun just to watch…"

When Amy returned, everyone gave their usual congratulations, and then Sonic strolled up.

"Nice run, Amy. See mine?"

Amy blinked. "You made a run?"

"_Yes!_ I made the one before Cream's! How else would I get back here without getting out?"

Amy scratched her head. "I'm sorry…believe it or not, I was paying more attention to the game than to you-"

"IT'S A SIGN OF THE END OF THE UNIVERSE! RUN! RU-"

"Silver, shut up!"

Silver went into a corner to shake it off, Sonic threw up his hands and went to sit next to Tails, and Shadow went up to bat again.

"Here is where the Ultimate redeems himself…"

Child rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, since you were the first out-"

"Silence!"

Toad smacked his head while he threw. Shadow swung- he missed.

"Strike 1!"

Shadow readied himself as he narrowed his eyes. "The sun's in my eyes…"

"Shadow, it's nighttime…"

"Well then the moon was in my eyes!"

Toad tossed a change-up, Shadow swung too late.

"Strike 2!"

"Shadow!" shouted his team. Shadow's eye twitched.

"Go Toad!" shouted his team. Toad beamed and tossed the ball once more. Shadow roared as he swung, only to send him spinning around several times like a top and to receive a, "3 strikes! 3 Outs! Change sides!"

"And you thought_ I_ was going to get out?" scoffed Sonic. "_You're_ the one who got out twice in one inning!"

"Shut up! I'll prove my ultimate power in the next inning!" Shadow growled, strapping on his mitt. "I'm pitching."

"The ultimate thing would be if you strike out the first three batters…" Sonic trailed as he walked off toward the outfield once again. Shadow looked thoughtful.

"I accept your challenge…"

. . .

"They certainly caught up…" Luigi whimpered. "So much for our lead and plan!"

"I told you!" Mario said, mainly aimed at Waluigi.

"Well we're still not going to lose!" Toad exclaimed. "We're us! We can still win this!"

Peach nodded and gave a cheeky smile. "Toad's right. Hope isn't lost! And besides, I'm having fun!"

"I am too," Mario admitted, grinning.

"I'm not. I keep getting battered around!" grunted Daisy.

"Next inning may be better…" shrugged Yoshi.

. . . .

"Do I give good pep talks?" Sonic asked Knuckles, sitting on the fence in front of the area of the stands where the duo was sitting. Knuckles nodded.

"Yeah, you're inspirational and stuff like that. Why?"

"Because they say you do it better…Shadow completely destroyed what little confidence I had left, Tails thinks I'm terrible, Amy's not even paying attention to me…can it get worse?"

"You could be me."

Sonic blinked and glanced down at Knuckles. He was leaned back, bandage still wrapped around his head, arm in a cast, and side all stitched and covered up.

"Think about if you were the star player, being the hero of the team…only to get pulled out of the game and forced to watch as your team starts to fall apart because you're not there, and to top it off you've got this _massive_ headache…"

"I didn't think about it like that before…"

"If I can't rely on you to pull us back together, then who can I rely on?"

Sonic gave a small smile. "Thanks Knuckles. I guess the guys are all right. You _do_ give better pep talks than me…especially for a knucklehead!"

"HEY! Don't make me take it all back and rip my stitches beating you to a pulp!" Knuckles roared as Sonic jumped out of his reach.

. . .

"Okay Wario…" Waluigi grumbled, pushing the yellow plumber into the field. "Second half, you're pitching. Remember the plan?"

"Uh…what's the plan?"

"WHAT!"

"Well, if you had told me, then maybe I could remember!"

"Sweet eggplants…all you have to do is *convenient whisper* when I *convenient whisper* once he's *convenient whisper*, all right?"

"*convenient whisper*"

"…okay! I will take that…"

* * *

**Sorry for the long updating gap- I'll try not to make it that long again. ...now I'm going to get nagged to update World Tour *braces self behind stone wall*. **


	8. Seventh Inning

Mario vs. Sonic in a Game of Baseball

Seventh Inning

_Seventh Inning Top- Fireballs hitting, Blurs pitching  
__Current Score: 22-19  
__Next Three Up To Bat- Toad, Daisy, Waluigi  
__Seventh Inning Sonic Pitcher: Shadow the Hedgehog_

_Fielding Positions: Amy, Blaze, and Tails in outfield, Sonic left field, Rogue right field, Silver first base, and Cream third base._

"At last! Time to exact my revenge!" cackled Shadow, standing triumphantly on the pitcher's mound.

"Just don't let it go to your head…" Sonic sighed.

"Who's the first to taste my wrath?"

Toad trotted up, hardly able to get a good grip on his bat. Shadow gave an evil grin, flashing his fangs. He threw his left hand backward, ball in hand, then shouted, "Chaos Spear!"

"Star Pitch already?" Amy yipped.

Sonic smacked his head. "Aw jeez."

"Look out Toad!" "I thought he'd save it for Wario…" "Noooooo!"

Toad ducked from the ball, surrounded by light in the shape of a spear, and Child was hardy able to reach up, catch the ball, and call the strike.

"Sheesh Shadow…" she sneered as she gave it back. "Try taking out your wrath on someone less weak and helpless-"

"HEY!"

"Sorry Toad."

"This is going to be such a long inning…" moaned Peach.

Shadow held up a hand. "Shush…I'm pitching…"

The ebony hedgehog closed his eyes, did a small dance, started chanting, then pitched the ball. Toad was in such a daze at the horrible display he just witnessed he couldn't swing.

"Strike 2?"

"Don't let him get in your head Toad!" "What the heck was that?" "SHADOW!"

Shadow threw the ball straight over the plate- Toad swung but he ended up tripping over his feet and falling over.

"Strike 3. Out."

"Oh come on! You can't allow THAT to happen!" complained Mario.

"He pitched. Toad struck. What more is there to it?"

"We're talking about SHADOW!"

Shadow received the ball again and grinned. "Don't worry about me- I'll just be busy striking all of your players out!"

"That…dance of yours shouldn't even be legal! Brr!" Daisy called as she walked up.

Sonic covered his face. "Oh, I sure said the wrong thing…"

Shadow wove the ball through his fingers, making his little section of fan girls completely swoon over him.

"Will we even get to field in this inning?" whined Silver.

"No…" Shadow said coolly, and all the fan girls fainted.

"Ha! I dare you to try and get an out off of ME!" Daisy spat, eyes narrowed and ready for the hit.

"With pleasure…"

Shadow, instead of pitching overhand or underhand, held the ball with his left hand to the right of him, then while bringing his hand back over released the ball.

"Whoa! He threw it, uh…sidehand?"

Daisy swung, but Shadow's pitching was so fast she missed easily.

"Strike 1!"

Shadow smirked as Daisy gave him a death glare. Child returned the ball to Shadow who almost instantly pitched it again.

"Strike 2!"

"DAISY!" half the team roared. Daisy just cringed and focused on directing all hatred to Shadow.

"You've gotta be kidding…" the princess moaned. Shadow just revved his hand back before yelling out, "Chaos Spear!"

Daisy didn't even try to hit it. The spear-ball went whizzing by her, crashed into Child's glove and sent her flying away.

"AAAhhh! Shadow!"

Silver saw her flying and quickly used his powers to prevent her from going any farther…except once he released, she fell onto the ground and hit her head.

"Ow…I think flying into the wall would have been less painful…"

Silver grinned sheepishly. "Sorry!"

Child stood up, grabbing her head, then grunted, "Out…"

Daisy chucked the bat over Child's head, sending it flying into the dugout.

"Flying bat! The horror!" screamed Yoshi.

"Excuse me?" Rouge snapped, able to hear the comment from far away.

"Hit the deck!" shouted Mario, falling the ground. Everyone else followed suit, except Luigi who didn't have a clue as to what was going on, and looked right straight at the bat before it hit him in the head.

"Ow…why do I have to be used for the painful comedic relief? Why could Waluigi get hit in the head?" Luigi complained.

"Because he's going up to bat." Wario replied bluntly.

"Ah ha ha. My final victim!" Shadow cackled, rubbing the ball somewhat evilly in his hands.

"I think we might need to hit him with a tranquilizer…"

"Everyone cheats but Waluigi! Wah ha ha!"

Shadow raised an eyebrow, then shook it off. He pitched the ball in his own special way, only for Waluigi to use his Star Swing and sent it bouncing along the ground.

"Ha! Take that, Shadow!" Sonic called as Rouge ran for the ball and Waluigi knocked Silver over upon stopping at first. Shadow nearly crushed the baseball as Luigi nervously strolled up to bat. The hedgehog threw it as hard as he could…only to hit Luigi square in the stomach.

"Ow…"

"BEAN, Shadow…Luigi, take the base…" Child stated. Luigi gave a nod, as he was short of breath, and crawled to first while Waluigi jogged the second.

"You better get a grip, Shadow!" Knuckles called from the stands. DK pounded a massive fist into his palm and nodded in agreement. Shadow just glared, but nevertheless eased up on the pitching. Peach was up next, and she was looking pretty perky. Shadow spun the ball on his finger before throwing- Peach had it surrounded in hearts and having Shadow bow in respect as soon as it reached her.

"It's such a lovely ball…" Shadow sighed, lying on the ground and watching it roll right by him. Peach giggled as she skipped to first, Luigi easily making it to second, and Waluigi safely stopping at third. Once the spell wore off, Shadow angrily picked up the ball and prepared to pitch again. He looked up into the next hitter's eyes and felt a fire suddenly ignite.

Wario.

"Oh mother have mercy…"

As Shadow gave the yellow plumber the stare down of the century, Wario was in the middle of subconsciously scratching his butt.

"Ugh. I don't want to use the same baseball as him…" Blaze groaned.

"Here's to hoping Shadow doesn't blast Wario into dust!" Toad laughed nervously.

"Bases are loaded…2 outs…" Child muttered. Mario gulped.

Shadow let out an inhumane roar in the form of "CHAOS SPEAR!" and chucked the ball straight down the plate. Not really paying attention, Wario simply lifted the bat, causing the ball to ricochet off of it, plowing into Shadow, ergo sending the ball and Shadow toward Home Run territory. Waluigi, Luigi, Peach, and all the fielders screamed- the whole game was spiraled into chaos!

"WAH!" shouted Luigi, ducking as Shadow went flying over his head. Shadow's eyes were redder than ever.

"Wario…" he seethed, nearly breathing fire.

"Someone catch him!" Amy cried, scrambling around. Tails flew up, arms outstretched.

"I've got him!"

Waluigi skidded into home, then ran into the dugout and took cover just like everyone else. Wario was currently hobbling to first, still, Peach tapped second and kept going, and Luigi just headed for home because he was very terrified to be on the field right now.

Tails almost had Shadow, until his hover shoes kicked in and literally forced the fox away. Tails fell and landed on Blaze. Shadow went soaring through the air like a red and black torpedo.

"Gang way!" Luigi wailed, lying over home and diving into the dugout.

"This could get very bad…" Yoshi gulped, wearing an army helmet and peeking over the edge.

Peach was now going for home, and Wario simply decided to go for second- despite the fact Shadow was about to crash into him dead and center.

"Oh hey! A coin!" Wario exclaimed, bending down to pick it up. Rouge looked away in disgust. Shadow went flying straight over the bent over Wario. Peach gasped at the sight of Shadow missing his apparent target and literally rolled onto first.

"Shadow! The ball!" Sonic and Cream called, both waving frantically as Wario started off for third. Shadow, as always, was determined to get Wario out.

"Chaos Control!" he snarled, teleporting behind where Wario was. Wario, become very exhausted from the sprint around the bases, unintentionally let out a huge waft…which Shadow was in direct fire of. As he fell to ground in a coughing and sputtering fit followed by Wario's name attached to several swear words, Wario gave a sigh of relief and headed for third. Sonic, Cream, and Rouge were all close enough to the gas cloud and instantly made a run for the outfield.

"We hit the worst part yet?" Toad asked Waluigi, who was also peering over the side of the dugout with a pair of binoculars.

"No…not yet…"

Yoshi gulped and quivered next to Peach.

"So much for a simple game of baseball…" sighed Mario.

Meanwhile, Wario finally picked up the pace and was storming for home when Shadow stood up again, face as green as Sonic's eyes.

"…I'm alive! What a miracle!"

"What a disappointment…"

Shadow sucked in some fresh air, then moved like a black lightning bolt toward Wario, baseball outstretched. He plowed into Wario, sending them rolling along the ground. Child screamed and dove out of the way as Wario and Shadow bounced on home plate at the same time, causing a small quake to ripple out.

"OUT! OUT! _OUT_ I SAY!"

"OW! MY FACE!"

"OUT! I GOT YOU _OUT_!"

"Ooo…I feel another fart coming on-"

Even Sonic was impressed with the speed that Shadow propelled himself away from Wario. Wario snickered.

"False alarm!"

"Urgh…you are so repulsive…" Shadow sneered back. "Is this oaf out of not?"

"Um…how about we not count that at all?" suggested Child.

"Hey! Where's the explosion-"

"CHAOS BLAST!"

Everyone ducked as Shadow emitted a fatal dome of red power.

"What do mean "let's not count it?" I go through all that pain and turmoil-"

"HEY! Only I stand up to pain and turmoil!" shouted Knuckles.

Shadow gave him a look. "Whatever! How can he possibly _not_ be out?"

"Because you never hit him with the baseball- you just tackled him, and then you rolled onto home, and then he was safe!" called Natalie. "I saw everything!"

"…the MOON was in your eyes, little girl!"

"The moon- _DUDE!_ There's a huge scoreboard behind me! The moon's "light" is freakin' blocked off!"

"Natalie! Watch your language!" Child snapped.

"You're not our mom!"

"Well, anyway, Wario's safe, Shadow…"

"…I let you-"

"Don't even bother, Shadow…"

Shadow just threw up his hands, forcing himself to let it go as Natalie realized they had just made a grand slam and changed the score to match. Shadow sweat dropped as he suddenly felt everyone stare at him.

"…WHAT?"

"Does this ring a bell?" Sonic asked, coughing as if he prepared to mock someone in a falsetto voice. "Oh, _I'm_ the Ultimate Lifeform! I'm going to get everyone out and they'll feel my wrath and taste my revenge and Maria and bla bla bla…and I just let my arch enemy score a grand slam!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Go Mario!" Peach said, pushing Mario up to bat.

"Is it bad to say I'm scared?" Mario murmured with wide-eyes.

"Not when it's Shadow…"

Mario was practically shoved onto the plate. He cringed when he saw the look on Shadow's face, until the Ultimate Lifeform calmed down back to his usual sneer. Shadow threw the ball- Mario sent it up in flames.

"Wa-hoo!"

"I've got it!" screamed Sonic, bounding from the protection of outfield, jumping off Blaze's head, and ball landing in his glove…only to burn his hand and send him into a screaming fit.

"_Idiot!_ Who grabs a burning ball?"

Silver stifled giggles in the corner. Blaze gave him a look which instantly shut him up.

"Augh!" Sonic yelled, dancing around and shaking his hand everywhere. Rouge arrived, blew out the flames, and threw it to Silver, but Mario was already safe. Shadow muttered something under his breath. Yoshi walked up next, cheerful and happy until it was all ruined by the famous glare from Shadow.

"No one else is going to get past me…" he growled.

"It's just a ga-"

"Strike 1!"

"Really? _Really?"_

"Strike 2!"

"STOP THAT!"

"Then pay attention!" snickered Shadow. He pitched, then ducked as Yoshi smacked a knuckleball. "GET HIM OUT!"

Yoshi went screaming to first as Sonic zipped to the area around second base and caught the ball. Mario was forced to second, which made it all the easier to get him out.

"3 outs! Change sides!"

No one dared to say a word about anything as Wario stepped up to the pitcher's mound…after being tripped by Shadow.

_Seventh Inning Bottom- Blurs hitting, Fireballs pitching_  
_Current Score: 26-19_  
_Next Three Up To Bat- Rouge, Tails, Sonic_  
_Seventh Inning Mario Pitcher: Wario_

_Fielding Positions: Daisy, Mario, and Yoshi in outfield, Waluigi left field, Luigi right field, Toad first base, and Peach third base._

"…I'm afraid to say anything…" trailed Rouge, eyeing Wario as he did…something.

"Oh, wah? MY turn!"

"Heh heh heh…" Waluigi snickered in left field. Rouge took note of that, but her main focus was on the disgusting ball Wario prepared to throw. He gave it a hearty toss, Rouge swinging and making contact with the ball. As she ran, the ball soared toward Waluigi and Luigi. Naturally, they both exchanged glares before darting to try and catch the ball.

"It's-a mine!"

"Not on your life!"

They crashed into each other, the ball bouncing off Waluigi's head and flying into Yoshi's glove, who wasn't standing too far away.

"Fair." Child shrugged, motioning to Rouge standing on first. Yoshi sighed and gave the ball back to Wario. Wario grinned widely and turned to see who was up next- Tails.

"Wah ha ha ha…"

Tails gulped. "Oh boy…"

"Wario time!"

"Huh-"

Wario placed his hands under his armpits, then pulled his right hand out with two ball in-between his "W" fingers. Chucking both toward Tails, the young fox randomly swung…only to hit the fake ball.

"Strike 1!"

"Darn it!"

Wario threw again, Tails closing his eyes and performing his Star Swing. Wario's eyes widened as he was struck in the head with a wrench, followed by the baseball. Shadow laughed as Rouge sprinted to second, Tails to first, and Luigi for the ball. Rouge skidded to second, which gave Luigi the only option of getting Tails out.

"Uh oh…" Luigi gulped, tossing the ball to Toad. Tails' eyes widened and suddenly felt his tails moving uncontrollably faster.

"Uh oh…"

Toad jumped up to catch the ball, but he was just a tad too short to reach it.

"Uh oh…"

The ball rolled out of reach, which gave Tails to confidence to keep running, which forced Rouge to run. Toad trotted after the ball, gave it to Luigi, who gave it to Waluigi, who wasn't paying attention, who got hit in the head, who got mad at Luigi and threw the ball back at him, who winced and gave the ball to Wario who also wasn't paying attention who threw it to Peach at third, who missed getting Rouge out, who was still making a break for home.

"Hoo hoo…" mocked Knuckles, getting DK to snicker.

"What am I doing?" Rouge gaped, seeing home base in front of her. Peach smirked and bent over backwards, then propelled her pitch to Child. Rouge wasn't sure whether to turn back of keep going, but she certainly kept running and prayed she wouldn't get out. Time seemed to freeze as both the ball and Rouge reached home plate.

"Whoa…"

Rouge suddenly performed her tornado kick, knocking Child out of the way and rendering her safe.

"26-20!" shouted Natalie.

"I don't like this job…" huffed Child.

"Woo! Home run!" cheered Rouge, hopping back to the dugout. Sonic watched her go by and sighed-again- as he walked up to bat.

"Let's get this over with…"

Sonic slung the bat carelessly over his shoulder, giving Wario a "bring it on" look. Waluigi gave Wario what was supposed to be a signal, but Wario just nodded and pretended to know what that meant. Sonic awaited the ball, so he could swing, miss, strike, get out, and get it over with.

"I know you can do it, Sonic!" Tails called from second base.

Shadow was about to make a comment until Amy, Blaze, and Silver all smacked him.

"Throw it Wario!" shouted Waluigi. Wario shrugged and gave it a light toss. Sonic swung. He missed.

"Strike 1!"

"Not a surprise…"

Wario smirked and pitched a faster one. Sonic sighed and bunted it, then flew like a rocket to first base. Tails didn't know whether he should stay or not, but he ran to third anyway. Child picked up the ball and threw it to Peach but Tails swooped in and used one of his tails to knock Peach off balance and miss the catch.

"Too close…"

"Go Tails!" Silver called, now up to bat. One look at Wario made him shrink down in fear. "Don't hurt me…"

"Wah…"

"Hey- how come you're so silent this inning?" Silver asked as Wario started to wing up. "Usually you're doing a boatload of trash talk!"

"Would you like me to start with you?"

"Uh…nah, I think Waluigi's got that pretty much covered."

Wario pitches…Silver swings…he hits it!

"Whaaaaaa-" Silver wailed on his way to first. Tails quickly made it to home, scoring a run for the team as Sonic nervously went to second. He made it just as Waluigi turned around to get him out. He threw the ball to Toad, who didn't stand a chance as Silver stepped on the base and tripped over his own two feet.

"Good job Tails!" Cream said happily as Tails ran past her and into the dugout. He gave a quick thanks in return as she readied her bat. Wario, who was in the middle of picking his nose again, snorted at sight of Cream.

"If you hit it, be sure to sanitize your bat…" murmured Amy.

"Hmph! Wario time!" Wario exclaimed, magically creating two baseballs again.

"Look out Cream!" yelped Tails.

Cream gulped and gently hit one, which ended up being the right one, but it only rolled right up to Wario instead of toward the outfield. As she took off toward first, Wario scooped up the ball, noticed Sonic headed for home, and threw it to Child. Child gave Sonic an apology look as she caught the ball (which she later cringed at) and got him out.

"Out 1," she mumbled, throwing the ball to third base next.

"Aw come on! Not even a _little_ slack?" Sonic complained.

"You got a run last time, though!"

"That no one noticed!"

"I _said_ sorry…"

As Sonic sulked back to his team, the ball spiraled toward Peach at third, which Silver was heading at. Silver gave the ball a quick glance, then his hands lightly lit up as the ball briefly stopped in the air just in time for him to reach the base. Peach threw down her glove and had an episode over that.

"The hedgehog with the headthing just totally cheated! Did you see him stop the ball like that? Everyone knows the only way you can get away with something like that is with psychical contact, not ball interference-"

"Oh okay!" Silver said cheerfully, shoving Peach down.

"That is NOT what I meant!"

"Sorry! I'm from the future- baseball's extinct there and it's my first time playing! I'm not allowed to stop the ball?"

"No! Not everyone's psychic like YOU!"

"Just let it go Peach!" Wario snapped, grabbing the ball out of the air and wobbling back to the mound. "Sheesh, high-pitched complainer-"

"I'm right here! I can hear every word you spew out of your disgusting mouth!"

Blaze rolled her eyes as she twirled her bat around. "Not to interrupt this argument, but I'd like to hit today, if you don't mind."

"26-21!" Natalie called randomly. "Just a refresher! And I'm still bored…up here…alone…with the _moon _shining down on me…"

"Wah, whatever…" Wario huffed, ignoring Peach who was still complaining up a storm. He lobbed a change up, which caused Blaze to receive a strike. He threw a fast one- whizzed right by her. Blaze tightened her grip on the bat as Wario threw a third time, expecting a strike-out. Blaze, however, smirked and flared up in a fiery tornado, giving the ball some real heat as it took off above the field.

"That was totally hot!" cackled Silver, chugging to home without having to worry about getting out. Cream headed for second as fast as she could while Blaze let out excited screams all the way to first. Meanwhile, in the field, Daisy, Mario, and Yoshi were all wondering whether the ball was going to go over the fence or nor, and weren't sure what to do. Luigi ran up, calling out to Mario. Mario gave him a nod and prepared a buddy Jump. Blaze noticed this and prayed that they would missed the catch. To her horror, Luigi sprung like a spring and instantly claimed the ball in his glove.

"Out 2!"

"Darn," Silver muttered, sliding onto home.

"Poor Blaze!" Cream exclaimed, safe on second. The rest of the team just groaned except for shadow, who was going on and on about how they were just destined to fail or something. Blaze sighed on her way back, receiving pats and "Nice try!"

"Come on! At least get one more run!" Knuckles yelled from the stands.

"I think it's pretty bad when we can hear you over everyone in the entire stadium!" Amy called back. "But I'll try!"

Sonic made a groaning noise while Shadow shook his head.

Amy readied her hammer over her shoulder, daring Wario to do his best as he was performing yet another repulsive action. Wario shrugged and tossed it, Amy instantly making contact with a devastating crack.

"Foul!"

"GAH!"

Wario lightly snickered as he received the ball back from Toad. Amy fumed, but held in her anger quiet excellently…for her.

"Just a slip up. No big deal…"

"Just keeping lying to yourself…" sighed Wario, shaking his head.

"ALL RIGHT, _YOU KNOW WHAT_-"

"Just swing, Amy…" moaned Sonic, Tails, Shadow, and Silver.

Amy growled and held her hammer behind her back with only one hand. Wario chortled again and threw…only t have a baseball on the verge of bursting into flame knock his hat clean off his head and taking a few hairs with it.

"How's that?" Amy hissed, now brimming with confidence. The ball was aimed to fly over the wall at any second now, with the speed it was going. Knuckles almost jumped out of his seat if it wasn't for his side and DK holding him back.

"Come on come on!" chanted Silver. Shadow, standing next to him muttered something negative under his breath. Cream dashed for third while Amy made her way to first, hoping that she would at least being able to hit a home run, or just that the outfielders wouldn't catch the ball. It whirled by Luigi like a white streak of lightning, and was coming up at Yoshi pretty fast. He was all ready to nab it, until it bounced off his nose and over the fence anyway.

"2 home runs! Woo hoo!" blared Natalie, practically dancing as she changed the score to 26-23. Silver let out a wild call, throwing up his hands and simultaneously knocking Shadow down. Amy jumped up as high as she could while Waluigi gave Yoshi a mouthful about having a big nose, to which Yoshi replied with an "I wouldn't be talking!" and that started a scuffle in the outfield. Eventually, the next batter was up, and Waluigi knew it was time for the very risky plan.

"This time, Wario. Do it right, and we're in the next inning already!" he murmured to the pitcher as he returned to his spot, poking his nose.

"All right!" Wario cheered. "It's-a been building up in me for the entire game!"

"…so we meet again, hm?" Shadow said darkly, bat held like a sword. Everyone groaned.

"Pray for not a repeat of the last half of the inning…"

"Remember- it's just a game!" called Knuckles. DK pounded his chest in agreement.

Shadow closed his eye and placed his bat over his shoulder. "Just pitch."

"With pleasure…" Wario muttered right back. Waluigi eagerly rubbed his hands as Wario pitched. As expected, Shadow's eyes flared open, followed by a roar or-

"Chaos Control!"

The ball disappeared as Shadow hover-skated toward first. The entire outfield erupted in a cry of, "Get Shadow out!"

Luigi went nuts by running in circles, only to collide into Yoshi who was covering his head in case the ball came his way. Waluigi, meanwhile, had everything pretty covered. Shadow ws way too predictable. Wario stood like a completely clueless stump as Waluigi jumped over him, reached out above Wario's head, and caught the ball meant to knock Wario out.

"Now Wario!"

Wario cackled loudly as the team in the dugout quickly took notice about what was about to happen.

"GET DOWN!" wailed Sonic, pulling as many people as he could toward the ground.

"Shadow won't be happy after this one, that's for sure…" Rouge stated.

"Typical Wario," huffed Amy.

"What's going on?"

"Just keep your nose down Cream. Please."

Shadow, who was leisurely making his way to second with his eyes closed, instantly noticed something awful spreading across the bases. It didn't go beyond the bases, but that didn't matter, considering Shadow was running them. Toad and Peach instantly gasped and backed up away from their positions while Luigi scurried into the outfield.

"Oh, that is so RANK!" Waluigi gagged, trying to hold his huge nose closed. It was even worse know he was standing right in the path of Wario's latest emission, but still. The plan was the plan. He had the ball- and didn't get Shadow out, since it was a Fair- and Shadow was still trudging the bases. With one breath, considering Shadow was running, after all, it was all it took to instantly weaken the great Ultimate Lifeform. He had just left second and was making his way to third but the foul smell forced him to his kneea, sputtering.

"How many times have I said 'Curse you, Wario'?"

"Way too many times…" Waluigi chuckled, slowly walking up to Shadow. Shadow gagged again and forced himself to crawl through the poisonous mist.

"Ugh, gross! I can smell that all the way from up here!" Natalie complained, hiding her face in her shirt.

"I'm so glad I'm wearing a mask…" Child sighed in relief. She turned to Team Sonic. "You know there's no hope for Shadow, right?"

"Yeah…" "This stench will probably make his quills droop!"

"Must…fight…odor…" Shadow spat, struggling to get to third. Waluigi didn't even tag him with the ball- he just stood and watched Shadow suffer. Shadow crawled all the way to third, but just as it was in his reach, he passed out. Waluigi snickered, then tapped Shadow's head with the ball.

"Out 3! Change sides!" he said, mocking Child's voice.

Child who was obviously irritated, glared at both Wario and Waluigi. "No more _farting escapades_. It happens again, I'll replace you with Birdo or something! I mean it, too! You've probably _killed_ Shadow!"

"SHADOW!" "NO!" "NOT AGAIN!" wailed the fan girls. They jumped out of the stands, ran up to Shadow, used their fan girl powers to revive him, then blasted a blow horn in Wario and Waluigi's ear. Wario yelled while Waluigi started squirming on the ground.

"Excellent work girls!" they cheered to each other, slapping high fives. Then they started clawing at Shadow for hugs and chances to snag his quills. Silver luckily came to the rescue, picking them all up and tossing them back into the stands.

"Ah, rabid things…they really need to put them in a cage."

"I thought Wario was forbidden from his…wafts in a baseball game anyway?" inquired Daisy.

"Must the interference from Shadow!" Mario exclaimed. He then made a face. "I'm sorry that guy is some alternate version of me…"

"He is, isn't he?" "I completely forgot!" "He's his own person now…"

Sonic walked up to Shadow, who was now lying on his back staring angrily at the sky.

"You do know you got the third out _again_-"

"Shut up Faker. I'm thinking of ways to kill Wario."

"Faker? Dude, we went over this- you're the fake one! You're artificial of all things! If that's not fake I don't know what is!"

"I'm still going to mull over this."

"Well, good thing you are, because you're conveniently playing third base next inning."

"As soon as someone clears out Wario's aftermath…" Toad exhaled, walking by the duo with his mushroom cap covering his face. Child sighed and pulled out a cell phone that she started to rapidly dial with her thumb.

"I'm on it…"

Wario just laughed and attempted a jog up to the dugout.

"You people need to get used to it! It's not like I'm the ONLY one that lets one rip-"

"Or cuts the cheese!"

"Or pulls a fast one!"

"Eh, that one really doesn't fit-"

"Can we just _end_ this already?" Natalie interrupted. "We're almost finished with the game!"

"She's right! The next inning is the 8th one already!" Cream exclaimed.

"This game's going by fast…" Luigi trailed.

"And WE'RE winning!" cheered Yoshi.

"Not for long!" Rouge protested.

"Who are you kidding Rouge- there's no way we're going to win!" Shadow disagreed.

"Yeah, and Shadow is always right-" started Waluigi until Shadow glared at him.

"Quiet, I don't need any backup! Especially from the likes of you!"

Natalie sweat dropped. "We had like 5 chances to end this inning and we haven't ended it yet!"

"Nah, let's just drag it on even longer!" Child called sarcastically. "We haven't had the teams discuss whatever yet!"

"No, you can end it now. The story's about to reach the climax anyway-" Mario started to say.

"Quiet Mario! You're spoiling everything!"

"I thought the Knuckles thing was the climax…" pondered Amy.

"I'M SOR-"

Daisy grabbed Yoshi and clamped her hands over his mouth. "Not kidding- you can end it _now_!"

Child folded her arms and looked mad. "I don't wanna! Mario ruined everything!"

"I'm sorry! I thought I would move things along faster!"

"You know what? We're just going to randomly end this since I can't think of cheesy way to do it this time around…" Child threw on her mask and started barking out orders. "Positions, people! We're still playing baseball, and it's getting good!"

"And so, the teams swapped spots on the field, ready for their 8th inning of action. But were Mario and Child really right, and would the game escalate to dangerous levels?" Natalie announced in a narrator voice. "How's that Child?"

"Marvelous! Brilliant way to end it!"

"I don't know…it still doesn't feel like an ending-"

"Shush Tails, you're making it drag even _longer_!"

And so, the teams swapped spots on the field, ready for their 8th inning of action. But were Mario and Child really right, and would the game escalate to dangerous levels? The only way to find out was to storm into the 8th inning and play their hardest. It was beyond a ball game now. It was war.

* * *

**I was in the middle of reading a great story and right out of the blue I pull up the document and miraculously start working on this! And it took me awhile to end it because I wasn't sure how to end it and _that _happened and yeah... apparently I wasn't kidding when I said I wanted this finished. Only 3 chaps to go! :D**

**EDIT: I was looking back and I've realized that there was an incorrection with the score ever since Inning 4- I gave Mario's team an extra point by accident! Luckily they gained this "extra point" in Sonic's half of the inning, so I won't need to change anything but the current score. **


	9. Eighth Inning

Mario vs. Sonic in a Game of Baseball

Eighth Inning

_Eighth Inning Top- Fireballs hitting, Blurs pitching  
__Current Score: 26-23  
__Next Three Up To Bat- Luigi, Daisy, Waluigi  
__Eighth Inning Sonic Pitcher: Blaze the Cat_

_Fielding Positions: Cream, Amy, and Sonic in outfield, Rouge left field, Silver right field, Tails first base, and Shadow third base._

After a team of specialists came in with huge fans and blew Wario's stench clear out of Mario Stadium, the dramatic 8th inning took place. Blaze was fired up to be pitcher (I laugh, I laugh…) while everyone stayed clear away from Shadow who was practically snorting out smoke.

"You're not going to, like, hold a grudge or anything, right?" Luigi asked meekly, still eyeing Shadow nervously. Blaze shook her head.

"You must be mistaken if you think I'm anything like that lunatic standing at third base-"

"I can hear you!"

Blaze ignored Shadow and pitched a fast one to Luigi. Luigi was quick to react by firing up his Star Swing, sending the ball in a mini tornado and spiraling across the field. Blaze rolled out of the way as the other fielders attempted to catch it…and got ran over.

"All right! Woo hoo!" Luigi cheering, stopping at first and lightly laughing at the aftermath his tornado had caused. Silver was spinning around dizzily until he completely fell over. Blaze turned to Luigi and raised an eyebrow. "What? You said you don't hold a grudge!"

Blaze shook her head and turned to the next pitcher, who was Daisy.

"Hardly seen you this game…" Daisy smirked, looking highly overconfident.

"For you, perhaps that's for the best," Blaze shot back, not missing a beat and throwing the ball. Daisy swung…and missed.

"Strike 1!"

Blaze snickered when Daisy started going on with a thousand excuses as to why she missed. While she was all up in a buzz, Blaze pitched once again. Daisy caught the ball out of the corner of her eyes at the last moment and swung, only to send the baseball into Foul territory.

"Foul! AKA…Strike 2!"

Daisy's eyes twitched at the smug look on Blaze's face. She spun the ball into her right hand, then (oh jeez) fired up her Star Pitch.

"Try and hit this one!"

She started spinning around in her trade mark fire tornado move, unleashing the ball in a fury of flame in a similar way as Mario would. Daisy's eyes widened as the burning ball flew by her, landing Child's glove and making a scorch mark.

"Uh…Strike 3 Out?"

Daisy returned back to the dugout without a word, obviously in a daze. Blaze looked particularly proud as Waluigi placed one lanky leg on the base, the rest of his body following shortly behind.

"Purple vs. purple! Woo woo!" Knuckles cheered randomly, trying to get back into the action. He received strange gazes from the left fielder and the crew in the outfield, to which he relied with a shrug.

"…anyway…" Blaze trailed, turning back to the sneering Waluigi. "Where were we? Ah yes- me potentially getting you out."

Waluigi's eyes narrowed as Blaze threw the ball, striking it straight down the plate. Waluigi, who was still slightly deaf thanks to the fan girl attack, managed to hit the ball with one swing. Silver was directly where the ball was going to land, and quickly prepared to catch it. However, the ball bounced in his glove and end up rolling onto the ground.

"Fair."

Luigi's heart pounded as he raced for second, not daring to see Silver throw the ball. He was so close to second base though. Oh, how easy it would be for Rouge to simply glide over to second, hold her glove out and receive the ball from Silver! Or Silver could glide over also at a breakneck pace and instantly tag Luigi! If only he was faster then this wouldn't be so drastically worrying-"

"Safe!"

"Eh?"

Luigi was so busy flipping through possibilities of him getting out that he didn't even realize he was safe because Silver had thrown to Tails, though Waluigi was safe also.

"Oh…yay?"

"Luigi, Luigi, Luigi…" Mario sighed, now at bat. He glanced up at Blaze and instantly knew she was planning something. He could also tell by the fire in her eyes…and her fingertips.

"Thing's are starting to heat up, eh?" Silver snickered, elbowing Tails.

"You used that joke. And get back to your position."

"Not, I said "that was hot"! This is an entirely new pun!"

Blaze let out a battle cry as she spun, preparing her Star Pitch once again. Mario wasn't phased- or burned- at all. He actually even grinned.

The ball went soaring out of the fiery inferno…only to make contact with a bat that was equally on fire. Everyone playing that day would swear that the ball exploded from contact with so much fire, as there was quite the explosion afterward, but lo and behold the ball was aimed to fire out of the stadium.

Luigi gulped as he ducked under Mario's fireball, hurrying to third base. Silver attempted to catch it, but it flew by his face and left a burn mark on his nose, sending him into an episode. Amy was all ready to catch it, and so was Sonic, but both lunged for the ball, collided with each other, Amy took the chance to kiss Sonic's cheek, Sonic almost instantly shoved Amy away- oh yeah, and the ball flew over the fence and Mario made 3 home runs.

"Yippee!" the plucky red plumber cheered, taking off his hat and waving around as he danced around the bases. Luigi smiled a little, while Waluigi just grumbled something and walked straight to home without go around like he was supposed to. Blaze was plainly steamed that her Star Pitch didn't work, while everyone else on the team took the opportunity to yell at Silver.

"It was on fire! What did you want me to do?"

"I dunno, but I'd rather be burned that be kissed by Amy," Sonic yakked, rubbing his face at a supersonic rate. Amy just glared daggers at him while Peach signaled to continue the game. Blaze gave her a short nod and quickly pitched the ball. Peach hit it with a sickening smack, and it went soaring toward the outfield. Making sure Amy was clear out of the way, Sonic jumped up and flawlessly caught the ball.

"Out 2!"

Peach's jaw dropped, but she perked right back up and bubbly bounced back to the dugout. Wario stared at her like she was crazy as he reading himself for batting.

Blaze cringed. "Ugh, I don't even think I want to use a ball that you hit-"

"Then don't let him hit it!" wailed Shadow from his spot at third base.

"Ah, stop whining and pitch already!" Wario snapped. He then started laughing obnoxiously with his mouth wide open, and suddenly found himself with a baseball in his mouth. "Wah!"

"You said to pitch it!" Blaze said smugly in a high pitched fake voice.

He swallowed it the ball. Wario then shrugged.

"AH! He ate the ball!" Blaze screamed. "…GAH!"

"Oh calm down! It's not like there isn't extras," scoffed Wario.

"You ate a baseball like it was a mushroom!" squeaked Luigi.

"So?"

"I think I'm just as appalled as Blaze is…" murmured Shadow.

"…I don't even want to think about what'll happen afterward…" shivered Toad.

"Anyone know if that was a strike or a bean?" Child asked. "Because I can't really tell."

"He **ate** a baseball!"

"Just throw another one!" Wario yelled. "You're the one who pitched it in my mouth!"

"I didn't think you'd swallow it whole, moron!"

**One Baseball and Debate later-**

Now that Blaze was supplied with a new baseball (and the ball was removed from Wario via…ways…) the game returned from its pause. Blaze pitched once more, being extra careful to not aim anywhere near Wario's face. Wario gave a light laugh (though his mouth wasn't open to its full potential) and just about cracked his bat whacking the baseball out of the park. No one even tried to catch it- it was a definite run.

"Okay, first he eats a baseball, gross, and then he gets a homer." Rouge complained.

"Talk about stubborn and full of surprises…" grumbled Sonic.

Wario hummed to himself as he waddled around the bases, receiving glares from everyone he passed. "Yah dah yah dah dah dah dah yah dah duh duh-"

Shadow held his ears shut as the portly plumber made his way by third base.

"What's the score, Nat?" Amy called up to Natalie.

"30-23, at the moment!" was the reply. "And there's two outs!"

"No pressure there…" sighed Toad.

"You can do it Toad!" "Go Toad!" "I have faith!" "Even if you fail, you're still better than Sonic!"

Sonic made a face. "Thank you. Now I feel on top of the world."

Toad wasn't sure how to react to the positive cheers- and slightly cruel one- so he just readied his bat. Blaze threw a change up, which Toad missed.

"Strike 1!"

Blaze threw a slower pitch- Toad took the opportunity to bunt. He trudged all the way to first, but Child picked up the ball and tossed it to Tails before Toad ever got there.

"Out 3! Sorry Toad…"

Toad just gave a cheerful smile. "That's okay! I was almost there!"

Child grinned back, then called, "Okay! Change sides!"

Before anyone could move, Mario huddled everyone in the dugout for a private meeting.

"Okay, we absolutely have to prevent them from catching up! Because if they somehow get more runs than us, and then we do terrible, they automatically win the game," Mario explained.

"Like that'll happen!" laughed Waluigi while messing with his mustache.

"I'm not kidding."

"I'm not either!"

"We've got a freebie, since Sonic will be the third one up to bat," pointed out Daisy. "And I'm pitching! Woo-hoo! He won't stand a chance!"

"Harsh much?" Peach asked.

"I wouldn't be talking- you pitched when he wasn't looking and lied to him!"

"I was using strategy-"

"Him not having any skill is strategy enough! Or should I say tragedy…for them!"

"You guys need to stop focusing on Sonic and look at the bigger picture!" Mario snapped. "We've got Tails who's the fielding equivalent of Knuckles, Silver who can use his powers at any given time, Blaze who also has hitting potential, Cream who's this perfectly balanced person, Amy with her power smacks, Rouge and her wily ways…and do we even need to mention Shadow?"

"Mario has a point…" trailed Yoshi. "They might pull something off sooner or later…"

"Finally someone starts to realize they're not as bad as anyone thinks they are, whether being us or them!" Toad exclaimed.

"Keep your mind on winning, and we will win!" Wario put out. "If you keep bringing up all this "potential" and "they have a chance" negativity you're practically giving the game to them!"

"It's just a game-"

"This is not a game! This is a battle between two very opposing forces. THIS…IS…-"

"SPARTA!"

"I was going to say WAR! Not SPARTA!"

"Oh really? I thought I caught a ref…"

Mario blinked, then continued his speech. "Anyway, what I'm basically trying to say is just don't take these guys for granted, okay?"

There was a brief session of mumbling before everyone turned to Mario and gave a nod. Mario grinned and struck a Sonic pose.

"And Super Mario wins again!"

Wario coughed and pretended to gag.

**Meanwhile-**

"Okay, Sonic, why are we all grouped in the outfield?"

"They were doing it! I bet they're strategizing again!"

"So…what do we do?"

Sonic froze, then thought. "Um…shouldn't we think of a plan too?"

"Lay one on us," Shadow stated without a tone in his voice.

"I think I can help!" Tails piped up, followed by pulling out an easel with paper from nowhere. "Okay, if we managed to get more home runs than them this inning, it'll instantly put us up for a possible early end game if we managed to keep them at bay at the beginning of inning 9! Then we'll automatically win!"

"But since there's the 93% chance of that not happening…" Shadow trailed.

"Simple! All we really need to do is just catch up! Then if we get more runs after they hit in inning 9, we automatically win then with, say, an example of them having 21 and us having 22. There's no more innings afterward, so there'd be no more reason to play!"

"And since there's the 97% of that not happening…"

Tails frowned and turned to a new piece of paper, drawing crude drawing of Mario's team. "Look at it like this then: Mario and Luigi are the best players on the team, Mario with more hitting and running with Luigi being more of a fielder and catcher. So there's no way to truly counteract them-"

"Unless you trip Luigi!" Rouge smirked, but only kidding.

"That wouldn't be very nice," Cream stated with a frown.

"So? You weren't very nice to Waluigi if I recall…"

"And two wrongs don't make a right…" sang Silver.

"I was mad! Anger took over!" Cream defended. "And you two can't say that you didn't enjoy it, hm?"

Rouge and Silver instantly shut up, Cream with a confident look. She then gave Tails the signal to continue.

"Anyway, we have Peach the fielder. We can go against this if Amy hit's the ball closer to the foul line rather than toward the outfield. There's still the possibility Amy can hit home if she does this. Daisy's pitching this round, so we won't need to worry about her…Yoshi and Toad are both fast, and Yoshi has a slight advantage in fielding." Tails pointed to Shadow and Cream. "That's where you two come in. Shadow just has to be faster, and Cream's well-balanced ability will be unaffected by Yoshi's fielding."

Tails then drew a circle and a stick on the paper. "And lastly, we have Wario and Waluigi. Wario's strong, yet slow, and Waluigi's tricky, but somewhat breakable. Together, they fit like two puzzle pieces. Keep them apart, and they collapse upon themselves-"

"And the only reason they stick with each other is because no one else will!" cackled Shadow.

"Listen! Rouge, you can compete with Waluigi's tricks, right?"

Rouge smirked once again. "Well, I don't mean to brag…"

"All right. And Shadow won't be dealing with Wario because we'll all suffer…Silver! Blaze! It'll take two to deal with Wario. Blaze, you've got the speed, and I hope Silver can handle holding Wario back…"

Blaze smiled while Silver made a face and started pouting. Tails smiled then put the clipboard and the such back from wherever he retrieved it from. Everyone applauded, which Tails took a small bow at.

"What? I don't have any secret mission to pull?" Sonic asked.

"Uh…you can give the pep talk?"

"Fine. Now I have to whip one up…um…if we pull together we can do this?"

"Boo."

Sonic threw up his hands. "All right! We're down by 7 runs and if we pull off a miracle and somehow manage to do that, we'll be tied. That's what we really should go for, since pulling into the lead is just out of our reach, nah? They may be good, and we may be worse, but we've at least been able to keep up the pace…somewhat…"

Everyone blinked.

"…it's just a game. We lose, we lose. We win, we win! Simple as that. Do we really need a war plan?"

"NO!" everyone shouted.

"Will we have one anyway?"

"YEAH!"

"Are we going to drop everything and give up now?"

"NO!"

"And if we lose, will we break down and start crying like babies?"

"YEAH!"

Everyone turned and glanced at Shadow questioningly. Shadow sweat dropped.

"I, uh, thought 'yeah' was the answer to the next question…since there was…a pattern…bah! What was the point of that question _Sonic?"_

"To see if you'd fall for it," Sonic replied sarcastically. "I wanted to make sure we wouldn't do that!"

"It's apparent Shadow will!"

"C'mere Silver!"

"GAH!"

_Eighth Inning Bottom- Blurs hitting, Fireballs pitching  
__Current Score: 30-23  
__Next Three Up To Bat- Rouge, Tails, Sonic  
__Eighth Inning Mario Pitcher: Princess Daisy  
__Fielding Positions: Peach, Wario, and Mario in outfield, Yoshi left field, Waluigi right field, Luigi first base, and Toad third base._

"Aw yeah! Come on! I'm Daisy! Uh huh! Woo!" Daisy cried, jumping around like a cheerleader on the pitcher's mound.

"Shadow, stop getting the third out. I'm tired of going first," Rouge grunted.

"Well sorry I nearly succumbed to poison last time. My bad that I refused to die."

Rouge just sighed.

"Come on! I'm ready to pitch!" Daisy cried. "…Yay!"

"Excited, much?"

"Maybe…"

Daisy pitched the ball the first time. It went completely behind Rouge.

"Ball!"

"Take a chill, Daisy!"

"Sorry!"

Daisy took a deep breath, then put her mind into game mode. With a fast throw, Rouge received a strike.

"Come on Rouge…" Tails whispered, awaiting his turn to bat.

"Strike 1!"

Daisy pitched again, Rouge flashing her fangs in a smile as she kissed her bat then hit the ball. Star Swing!

"It's headed for Waluigi!" cried Yoshi. "Uh oh…don't fall for her tricks! I'm telling you!"

Waluigi just stared at the ball. Just stared at it. It landed right by his foot and he didn't pick it up.

"Oh let me...do…it…" Yoshi started, until he too was swamped by the ball's distraction. Rouge had made it safely to second before the effect wore off, which earned her two glares from the fielders closed to her base.

"What can I say? It was a good looking ball."

Yoshi and Waluigi fumed while Silver burst out laughing in the dugout.

"Oh man…that was _so _bad…"

Blaze was ashamed to be sitting next to him.

Tails confidently strolled up to the base, ready to run the bases. Daisy chewed on some gum she found in her pocket, blew a bubble, then pitched. Tails struck it and sent it toward the foul area…but still in the park. It was bound to be a homer! Daisy's bubble popped.

Rouge hurried to third, knowing that the ball would bounce off the edge of the wall and roll dangerously close to her destination. But luckily, Toad was at third…though he was a bit of a speedy one… Toad was standing as close to the ball's target area as possible, hopping up and down and praying to catch it. The ball made hard contact with the very corner of the wall, as both Tails and Rouge predicted, just to the left of Toad.

"Hurry Toad!" Yoshi cried, running to fill his spot at third if necessary.

"I don't think so!" Rouge called, flapping her wings to gain speed and buffer Yoshi a little. Toad gasped and ran for the ball, currently tumbling over the foul line.

"I've got it!"

"Throw it!"

"Too late!"

Rouge sprung forward, hand tapping against the base just as Toad propelled the ball.

"Safe!"

"Darn!"

Tails cheered wildly at first- no one even took notice of him! He could've made it to second, but he decided it wasn't worth the risk. He gave a thumbs up to Rouge who saluted right back.

"Cue a band that can't play well!" Sonic called, once again trudging up to bat. A random person in the crowd started playing a trombone quite terribly, until it was stuffed by a baseball.

"You really need to have more confidence, Sonic; this is ridiculous!" Amy shouted.

"You're the most confident person I know, Mr. Sonic!" added Cream.

"I'm not going to hit this!"

"At least try!" "You can make it to first, right?"

Daisy grinned widely at the sight of Sonic. She strained herself from calling out with, "Easy out!" because Mario would yell at her for sure. Her grin was satisfying enough- it certainly gave away the impression that she was overly glad. And Sonic found it a bit creepy.

"Um, ya gonna pitch? Today, perhaps?"

"Oh? Oh yes- right!"

She pitched, Sonic missed, no surprise.

"Strike 1!"

Daisy stifled a giggle as Sonic blandly stared at her. When she finally calmed down, she at last pitched again, Sonic miraculously hit it, the ball flew backward over his head but he didn't realize and started going for the base anyway until Child cried out:

"FOUL! Sonic, do we need a repeat of Inning 3?"

Sonic sighed and returned to home. "No…"

She groaned and tossed the ball back to Daisy, who was still chuckling like a nut.

"Okay, before you get me out, can I have the honor of knowing why you keep laughing?"

"Ha ha, oh just you…"

Sonic's eyes twitched. "You're laughing at me?"

Daisy shrugged and tossing the ball into her glove repeatedly. "You can't really blame me. You missing is quite entertaining!"

"Hmph! If you don't quit with this trash talk, you'll end up as low as Waluigi!"

"HEY!" shouted Daisy and Waluigi, Daisy being the one to continue. "That's right there is a insult!"

Sonic smirked. "Well, what goes around comes around, eh?"

"Daisy you'd better pitch it before Sonic hit you with an actually decent burn!" Peach called.

"Ha! The only person who burns well is Blaze!" Silver guffawed. Blaze growled and nearly hit him.

"That's not funny, Silver! Knock it off!"

"I'm sorry! I couldn't resist!"

"I'll pitch him a good one, you just watch!" Daisy snapped, also snapping the ball. Sonic just stood there patiently (or as patiently as he could possibly get), watching the ball go flying behind him.

"Ball!"

"Run Rouge!" Amy suddenly wailed.

"Way ahead of you!" Rouge winked back, already halfway there.

"Steal! STEAL!" screamed Daisy, frantically chugging to home as Sonic stepped out of the way and Child made a mad dash for the ball. Tails shrugged and decided to make a break for third while they were distracted.

"Steal? I'm part thief! And a good one at that!" Rouge snickered, watching as Child tossed the ball. "Which means I'm sure this is another steal I'll get away with!"

"Very clever…" pondered Silver.

Daisy ignored Rouge and Silver muttering and dove to catch the ball. Once she did, she turned to get Rouge out but the bat had already stole the base and gained her team the first running of the inning.

"30-24!"

"All right Rouge!" "Woo hoo!" "Close one there!"

"Hey! I helped too!" Tails called from the third base.

Daisy stomped all the way back to the pitcher's mound, and it didn't help that Sonic was now giving her a cocky grin. She gave him a glare before pitching again. Sonic swung. He missed.

"Strike 3- Out!"

"Do you still find it funny?" Sonic asked coyly. Daisy grunted. Silver now strolled happily up to the plate, his baseball bat glowing with as much psychic energy as him.

"Let's go!"

"Bring it!"

Silver charged up his bat while Daisy charged up her pitch. As Daisy threw a fast one, Silver held up his hand, stopped the ball, then smacked it into home run territory. Tails laughed and hurried for home while Silver calmly glided to first. Meanwhile in the outfield, Peach, Wario, and Mario weren't really sure what to do. Wario suggested climbing onto Peach, then have Mario climb on his, but both of them other flatly refused. However, just like Tails' ball, it collided with the very edge of the wall and bounced onto the ground. Mario picked it up, but Silver was safe and the score was now 30-25.

"Lucky…" he grumbled, throwing the ball back to Daisy.

"Thank, Mario!"

"Well, what do you know? Being polite, for once?"

Daisy blinked and turned to the next batter- little Cream.

"So we meet again!"

Cream just smiled. Daisy grinned her overconfident smile and threw the ball as hard as she could…right over Cream's head.

"Ball 1!"

"Huh?"

Cream just shrugged. Daisy gritted her teeth and pitched again. Again, it went straight over Cream's head.

"Ball 2!"

"Oh come on! It was right to her!"

"Over her head!" Child added sharply. Daisy then pitched a lot softer, but the ball didn't even reach Cream or the base. It just bounced on the ground.

"Ball 3!"

"DAISY!"

"I'm just pitching!" Daisy cried back to her team. Cream closed her eyes and shook her head.

"That's what I said-"

"Oh, be quiet!"

"Don't yell at the kid!" called Toad.

"what'd she do to you?" threw in Yoshi.

"Just don't mess with her Daisy…" shivered Waluigi. Daisy sweat dropped.

"Oh dear…"

"All you have to do is pitch, Daisy!" Cream sang. "It's just a game-"

"Stop taunting me in a nice way!"

"Someone's paranoid…" Wario whispered to Peach who was just shaking her head.

Daisy groaned for a long time until she threw the ball…which went over Cream's head.

"Everyone else can throw a decent pitch to her!" called Amy, snickering.

"Ball 4! Batter takes first base!"

Cream happily skipped to first while Silver just hovered over to second. Daisy felt like Shadow as her entire team glared at her.

"…What?"

"Not to be like, mean, or, mean, or…blunt about it, but take it down a notch with the pitching…" Luigi said while trembling. "You're not as good a pitcher as Peach, you know…"

"And if Luigi's telling you that, then something must be said!" Toad pointed out. Daisy just sighed.

"All right…"

She glanced up…  
…and saw Blaze…  
…and knew it was time to kick out…  
The secret weapon.

Blaze just stood, silent and strong, ready to smack the ball out of the park. Daisy stood strong and silent, ready to get Blaze out.

"Woo hoo!" she cried as flower started surrounding the baseball while she threw it. Blaze was expecting a fast hit, but luckily caught the fact the ball was moving slowly and adjusted accordingly. Blaze smacked It as hard as she could, but it was like the ball was caught in slow motion, ready to fall right into Daisy's glove…which it did.

"Out 2!"

Silver and Cream stayed right where they were. Blaze looked extremely downcast.

"Really? I always get out!"

"Tough luck, sister…"

Blaze gave Daisy a look as she headed back into the dugout. Amy, meanwhile, happily skipped up to bat.

"Time to hammer this game down!"

"Cue groaning!"

"Ugh-"

"Okay, okay…" Amy giggled. "Sorry that I'm a little excited! Not Daisy excited though…"

Daisy folded her arms and stuck up her nose. "Hmph."

"Just pitch, Daisy. You already got Blaze out- why couldn't you do the same for me?"

"Grr-"

"Temper, temper…"

"you want me to pitch so bad? Then fine!"

Daisy brought her hand as far as it could go, then snapped it forward, dead ahead for Amy. Amy just grinned wickedly as she got her Star Swing ready.

"Told you it was hammer time," were the only words that escaped her mouth as her hammer (now three times the size as before) smashed into the meager baseball. The crowd gasped as it tore across the field, giving Silver and Cream a chance to advance and load the bases.

"Catch it! Catch it!" Daisy shouted.

Waluigi, in an attempt to show off for Daisy, broadly strode over and extended his glove, figuring the ball would fly right in. Instead, the ball flew right over his arm and landed softly in the grass. Yoshi called him an idiot, which nearly started up the "big nose" debate once again until everyone told Waluigi to throw the ball.

"All right!"

He prepared to head to second, but Cream had slid there and become safe before he had the chance. He turned to third, where Silver was still heading to and quickly threw it toward Toad. Toad honestly prepared to catch it, but his jumping skills still weren't adequate…

"Nice, Toad…" Waluigi sighed. Peach, Yoshi, Mario and Daisy all instantly turned and wailed, "You leave Toad alone!"

Waluigi threw up his hands. "Okay, okay…no need to bite my head off!"

As Amy was now safe when she stomped on home plate, Child called out, "…and now, the bases are LOADED!"

"Time for the ultimate finish!" Shadow exclaimed, now not as bored as he was when the game started. Daisy closed her eyes and sweat dropped.

"Great…"

She pitched once, Shadow swung, strike. She pitched again, Shadow swung, strike 2.

"You're right…this will be an ultimate finish!" she said, perking up. "Ready to get out again Shadow?"

She laughed as she threw overhand, ball approaching Shadow fast. Shadow just yawned.

"Eh, I don't really feel like being the one to get out again so…"

He swung as hard as he could, time briefly freezing as the ball hit his bat's sweet spot, also causing the ball to fly like a comet over the stadium and completely out of the park. Daisy's jaw dropped as she dropped to the ground, only hearing Shadow murmur, "I was building up suspense."

"Grand Slam! GRAND SLAM!" Natalie screamed, practically dancing as the score was modified to be 30-29. Now everyone had to give Shadow a little credit, although they had no idea how he managed to miraculously get that home run, but he still did it!

"And it's also the first inning in awhile that he didn't use Chaos Control!" Blaze realized. Silver flipped to home, Cream spun there, Amy struck a pose, and Shadow held up a modest hand as his fan girls fainted in the stands.

"Ah, it's great to be me…" he sighed, actually smiling. Sonic punched his shoulder.

"Don't let it go to your head like Knuckles or _you'll _be thrown into a wall," he warned. Shadow gave him a look that said he didn't want anyone raining on his parade. "Er…anyway…we're almost tied! So, what did I tell ya? Two more runs and we'll be in the lead! We're on fire!"

"If I hear the word 'fire' again I swear I'm gonna-"

"-burn up!"

"Knock it off Silver!"

"No need to overheat, Blaze, sheesh…"

As Blaze went to attack Silver, Sonic walked up to Rouge and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You think you can get a home run?"

Rouge winked. "No guarantees Big Blue, but I'll give it all I got!"

"Hey! My line!" Silver yelled. "OW! Blaze-_ouch!_ I'M SORRY!"

Sonic sent Rouge to hit, then turned to Tails.

"And if she makes it, then it's up to you to be the tiebreaker. Can I count on you?"

Tails grinned. "I'll do my best! Just leave it to me!"

"We really need some new catchphrases…" sighed Amy.

"At least no one said, "You just gotta believe!" stated Shadow.

Daisy, who was still stuck in a trance at how easily she allowed a Grand Slam, was even more distraught seeing Rouge up to bat once again.

"You've gotta be kidding…"

"Well, here I am!"

Daisy muttered something under her breath before pitching. Rouge barely hit the ball, sending it pretty close the foul line, but out of reach of Child, Luigi, and Daisy. She quickly flapped her wings, hoping to get a boost, while Luigi darted away from his position to get the ball and Daisy filled in for him. Rouge, however, quickly started to slide to the base, and her foot pushed Daisy's foot that she had on the base away, leaving Daisy off balance, causing her to fall, and Luigi to chuck the ball to thin air.

"Safe!"

"ARGH!"

Rouge stood up and brushed the dirt of her leg, muttering, "Sonic owes me dry cleaning" or something along those lines. Daisy was as angry as a bull when she returned back to the mound, which unsettled Tails a bit. Daisy pointed at fox and mouthed, "You're out…"

Tails gulped.

"Don't let her get inside your head!" boomed Knuckles, doing his best not to spring out there, take the bat from Tails, and get a home run for him. Tails just gave a short grunt and tightened his grip. Daisy tossed the ball up once, then propelled it towards Tails. Tails swung.

"Strike 1!"

"It's okay, Tails!"

"Oh..."

Daisy did her "toss, then pitch" routine again, but the ball curved a bit and veered off course.

"Ball 1!"

Everyone in the dugout silently motioned for Rouge to steal again, and she did so without being detected by anyone who could get her out (Luigi, Yoshi, Daisy). The outfielders noticed, but it would be pointless to say anything. When Child retrieved the ball and gave it back to Daisy, Tails had an unusual smile on. Daisy raised an eyebrow at this but pitched anyway. Tails attempted another swing, but once again got a strike.

"Nnnhh…"

"Tails, don't worry about it!" Sonic called. Tails meekly nodded. Daisy wounded up another pitch, the ball curving once again and forcing Tails to duck from getting hit in the face (a bean definitely wasn't worth THAT.) Toad instantly went running after the ball, considering it had entered into his area over foul line.

"Ball 2!"

Tails tilted his head, signaling Rouge to run again, but she was already on it. This time, Waluigi caught her.

"Daisy! Steal! STEAL!"

Daisy looked up. "Huh-OW!"

"I'm sorry Daisy!" Toad gasped, eyes bugged out. "I-I didn't think Rouge- and you- and pitcher- and I just-"

"It's fine, Toad," Daisy gritted, rubbing her shoulder. Rouge covered her chuckle from third base. Daisy narrowed her eyes. "Not funny, Rouge! But now I know what you're up to, so if you think you can steal another run-"

"-which I do!"

"Daisy's really losing it…" Mario sighed.

"it's almost like Rouge is hitting instead of Tails!" exclaimed Peach.

"If she would just quit throwing Balls…" trailed Wario.

"Let's see if you really can get this…"

Daisy threw the ball completely behind Tails, after giving Rouge a sly look. Rouge instantly took off running while Child chased after the ball and shouted, "Ball 3!"

"Hurry Rouge!" Tails cried as Daisy jogged over to home plate. He had almost planned to interfere the throw to Daisy, but he knew it was against the rules and solemnly stepped back.

"Rouge! Rouge!" "Come on Rouge!" "You can do it!" "Believe!" "I'll kiss you if you make it!"

Time seemed to stop as half the people turned to glance at a blushing Knuckles in the stands, while the other half stared at a sweat dropping Shadow.

"Uh…" they both said. "Got a little _too_ into it there…"

"That figures," huffed Yoshi.

"C'mon! C'mon!" Daisy cried, waving her hands frantically. Rouge was closing in on the base at her top speed. Child chucked the ball, then waited to see what happened. Rouge suddenly jumped up, landed with one foot on the base, and also doing the splits. The ball landed in Daisy' glove the moment Rouge's other leg hit the ground. Everyone else cringed.

"Ooh…that had to hurt." "Good thing she isn't male…" "Gender doesn't matter!"

"I don't know why you guys are so worried- I do the splits all the time," Rouge replied, not showing any signs of pain. She and Daisy then turned to Child, who was slightly hesitant to say anything.

"…she's safe."

"WOO!" "YES!" "AWESOME!"

"CRAP!" "NO!" "WHY!"

Rouge removed herself out of the position, only to be overcome by congrats and praise. Daisy, meanwhile, counted to ten.

"I'm not going to lose it. I'm not going to lose it-"

"Temper, temper…" Knuckles scoffed.

"HEY! I WOULDN'T BE TALKING!"

"I know you're in an uproar right now, but can I have a chance to hit the ball again?" Tails asked.

Daisy growled. "Fine. Why? So you guys can get another run?"

Tails shrugged. Daisy wounded up the pitch, Tails readied his bat. This was it. All or nothing. A chance to get ahead, or a chance to dash all hopes of ever winning this baseball game and I'm making it way more dramatic than it seriously needs to-

"Strike 3! You're out! Change sides!"

Tails was now on his knees pounding angrily at the ground with his fists.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupi-"

"Take it easy, Tails." Sonic said, stopping him instantly.

"But I got out! I-"

"Tails, you actually helped us, you know."

"I did?"

"Yeah- with all those balls Daisy threw, we managed to get Rouge home! And besides…if you hit it, I would have certainly got us out."

Tails stood up and brushed the dirt off his furs and hands. "Okay. But I'm still mad that I didn't hit it."

"Still just a game. And guess what…"

"WE'RE TIED!" cried Silver, braked out in a song and dance number next to them.

"We're back, baby!" Amy cackled.

"I'm starting to really like baseball!" cried Cream "It's fun!"

"Me too!" added Silver, break dancing on his head.

"Now all we have to do is prevent the other team from getting anywhere…" mused Shadow.

"And that…" Sonic said, slipping on his mitt. "…is something that we shall hopefully do! With me as your pitcher, we shall be lead to victory and justice!"

"And thank the almighty being above you're a way better pitcher than a hitter," added Shadow. Sonic narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

"We're still in this! There's no way we'll lose!" Blaze called, putting her hand in the middle. "C'mon, am I the only one who thinks this?"

"Heck no!" exclaimed Amy, Tails, and Silver, also putting their hands in the middle.

"For the win…" murmured Shadow. "Though I still know we won't."

"For the fun!" cried Cream

"For the glory!" threw in Rouge. Everyone turned to Sonic, who also put in his hand.

"…for Knuckles. The least we could do is win for him…"

Everyone agreed silently before Sonic started counting down.

"Ready? 1...2...3..."

"GO SONIC BLURS!"

. . .

"AUGH! They caught up!" Wario exhausted. "Way to go, Daisy. Some true pitching out there!"

"You can't blame me for that! They were using the power of t-"

"No! _Anything_ can overcome teamwork! Don't you **dare** say teamwork!"

"Anyway, incredible strategy aside, there's no way they can win!" Waluigi tossed airily. "Mario will be pitching this inning, and he wouldn't let us down, right?"

"No pressure there…not to mention the fact I'm the last pitcher in the entire game!"

"We're not going down without a fight!" Peach called, placing her bat in the middle. "Who's with me?"

"I am!" Daisy cried, aggravated that she did not all that good last inning. Her bat joined Peach's. "They are going down! Down into the ground!"

"You're right about that…" trailed Waluigi, also joining the pile.

"Meh, why not…" shrugged Wario.

"Count us in!" threw in Toad and Yoshi, adding their bats.

"Can't win without me, eh?" Luigi chuckled, placing on his own green bat.

"I think we can…"

"No one asked you, Waluigi."

Mario was staring at the ground in thought until Peach snapped her finger in front of him.

"Uh, Mario? You okay?"

"Oh wut? Yeah, I'm good. Just…thinking up a last-minute plan for me, I suppose." He then shook his head to clear his thoughts and put his bat on top of the rest. "Anyway, this is the real deal now. We're down to the wire. If we fail this inning, it could all be over. At this rate, we don't know if enough runs would be enough. So we gotta crank out as many as we can possibly get!"

"RIGHT!"

"Who are we?"

"MARIO FIREBALLS!"

"Who's going to win?"

"MARIO FIREBALLS!"

They all lifted their bats in the air (Daisy's accidentally hitting Yoshi in the nose) while cheering "YEAH!"

. . .

"Ah, can you believe what the score is Child?" Natalie asked, now that her sister had briefly joined her in sitting on the scoreboard. "Oh, I can tell it'll get really good after this!"

Child just smiled. "Maybe."

"Who do you think'll win? I think Sonic's team, just because no one thinks they win, but then again Mario's team is pretty tough…"

Child shrugged. "All I can say is that whoever wins, no one will see it coming."

And she jumped off the scoreboard and trotted back to home plate, leaving Natalie in a confused daze.


	10. Ninth Inning

Mario vs. Sonic in a Game of Baseball

Ninth Inning

_Ninth Inning Top- Fireballs hitting, Blurs pitching  
__Current Score: 30-30  
__Next Three Up To Bat- Yoshi, Luigi, Daisy  
__Ninth Inning Sonic Pitcher: Sonic the Hedgehog_

_Fielding Positions: Tails, Silver, and Rouge in outfield, Cream left field, Blaze right field, Amy first base, and Shadow third base._

"Let's do this!" Sonic called, stretching on the mound. "You guys ready for this?"

They had planned very well- the better fielders were placed toward the back, the balanced player were shortstops, and the faster players were on first and third. Purely genius, if Sonic did say so himself. He tossed the ball several times into his glove, just to sort of get a feel, and since he was a bit nervous. What if he pitched wrong too? It would certainly square up to his batting, that was for sure! But, even if Mario's team managed a few hits, he had his own team to back him up and here he went again thinking about teamwork-

"Yo! Sonic!" Child called, waving. "See if you can pitch straight into my glove!"

Sonic smirked. "Piece of cake!"

He kicked his leg out a little before pitching the sucker straight into the glove. Child stumbled backward a little bit with the catch.

"How's that?"

"I believe you'll get a couple strikes. Stop worrying about your pitching."

Sonic blinked. "How did you know-"

"I have ways. Plus, you tend to talk to yourself when you stress yourself out."

Sonic recoiled back from the comment, Child smiling coyly.

"C'mon! Let's start! I want to find out who WINS!" cried Natalie. "GAH!"

"Easy, sister…okay Yoshi! You're up!"

Yoshi finished practicing a few swings before nodding and walking over. Sonic systematically kept tossing the ball from glove to hand. Glove to hand. Glove to hand- until Yoshi got irritated.

"Sorry pal. Was I egging you on?"

"Don't try to intimidate me by using terrible puns!"

"I'sjus'askin'."

Sonic pitched a super-fast one to Yoshi, who right off the bat (no pun intended) got a strike.

"What a way to start an inning!" Wario roared. His entire team smacked him upside the head (except Luigi- he knew better than that). Sonic perked up a bit as Yoshi gulped.

"You better hit the ball Yoshi!"

"Stop pressuring me! Please! Ah…"

Sonic did his second pitch. Yoshi swung again.

"Foul!"

"Aw come on!" Yoshi whined.

"Obviously Sonic is a far better pitcher than a hitter…" mused Luigi.

"Luigi, anyone would be a better pitcher than Sonic is a hitter," Daisy stated.

_"Except you…"_ Wario coughed under his breath.

"I heard that!"

Yoshi tapped the base with the top of the bat, eyes firmly locked on the ball. Sonic chucked the ball at Yoshi for a third time.

"Yoshi!"

CRACK.

Sonic's head went backward as the ball flew over his head, but it didn't go far. It landed smack dab between Blaze and Cream, but Yoshi was fast enough to make it to the base before anything happened. Sonic realized Cream nor Blaze were going to get the ball so Sonic zipped over and picked the ball up. It was like he didn't even move. Luigi blinked, then rekindled his focus.

"It's not wise to blink, Luigi…" Sonic trailed.

Luigi blinked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Blink once…"

Luigi blinked again.

"Strike 1!"

"WHAT!"

"…and you will have missed me."

Luigi's eyes bugged out as Sonic had the ball returned to him.

"Oh dear."

"Come on, Luigi!" Daisy called.

"No worries, Luigi!" added Mario.

"So worried…"

"All's ya gotta do is swing!" Sonic exclaimed, lobbing the ball back to Luigi in the form of a change-up. Luigi adjusted his cap, moved the bat forward, and miraculously made contact.

"GO LUIGI!" "CAREFUL YOSHI!"

"Aw, man…" complained Sonic.

"Where's the ball?" yelled Silver. "We need the ball!"

The fielders had no idea where the ball went, until Yoshi and Luigi were halfway to their destinations. Apparently it was right next to Sonic's foot. Sonic tried to cover up his unawareness by throwing to Blaze awaiting at second, but once again, speed was Yoshi's savior. It was pointless to attempt to get Luigi out, so Blaze returned the ball to Sonic. He frowned a little, until he caught eye of the third batter.

"Well, this should be interesting."

Daisy tapped the bat against her shoes, then prepared a hit…until she saw the look on Sonic's face.

"Um, do you plan to pitch today?"

Sonic shrugged. "Sure…unless you really want a taste of comeuppance."

"Comeuppance? What the heck does that mean?"

"REVENGE!" Shadow shouted from third. As Daisy slightly turned her head to give Shadow a half-quizzical look, Sonic pitched the ball straight into Child's glove.

"Strike 1!"

"Say what?"

Sonic purposefully started snickering. Daisy turned her gaze at him and put it at full anger.

"What're you laughing at? You're the last person who should be critizing hitting skills!"

"Oh, you know…" Sonic replied in a high pitch voice, turning his back to Daisy. "Just at you. You can't really blame me. You missing is quite entertaining!"

"Stop that and just pitch!"

"M'kay-"

He whirled around in a blur and flung the ball at a speed that would rival him- and Daisy didn't even see it.

"Well? Pitch!"

"He did…Strike 2."

Daisy's eyes bulged as her head snapped down to Child's glove. Sure enough, the baseball was right in the mitt. When she gave it back, Sonic caught it with his mittless hand, spun it on his finger, and grinned at Daisy.

"The power of a Star Swing, baby! It practically guarantees a strike, just like yours."

"GRRRRR!"

"Get a hose ready, because Daisy is STEAMED!" Yoshi yelped from second plate.

Daisy nearly broke her bat in two just by tightening her grip on it. Sonic was genuinely amused by that act. He gave the ball a light throw, Daisy almost instantly going berserk on it and swinging with all tomboy power she had. Almost simultaneously she started running, once she heard the sound of a hit. Everyone but Sonic went into a frenzy, wondering where the ball would land since it had went almost completely straight up. Even Yoshi and Luigi were a bit hesitant to run after seeing the ball.

"Well what are you waiting for? GO!" cried Daisy.

"Uh, take a look, petals-for-brains," Amy huffed. Daisy almost didn't fall for it, until Luigi did stop and turn around, planning to stay safe on first, Yoshi also turned around and went back. Finally, Daisy looked, saw her ball headed straight for the center of the field, and land stylishly in Sonic's glove.

"I believe this means you're out?"

Wario threw his hat on the ground and attempted to stomp on it, Yoshi and Luigi exchanged nervous glances, Toad sighed and shook his head, Mario smacked his head and Peach had to go out there to drag a fainted Daisy back to the dugout. Sonic once again started tossing the ball in his hand.

"And I still find it funny. Ah, so much irony. You have to love it."

As Sonic returned to the mound, Waluigi was up, ready to avenge Daisy with a simply amazing home run swing. Sonic could already see his motives and just threw. Waluigi grinned broadly, having no faltering confidence in his hitting. The ball, as both hitter and pitcher expected, was a foul.

"Come on!" Waluigi complained.

"We can't afford to miss any runs, Waluigi!" called Toad.

"We already wasted one with Daisy!" bellowed Wario, who received a quick jab to the face. "OW! Why does everyone beat on the great Wario, hah?"

"Because you're a JERK!" Daisy screamed back.

Waluigi adjusted his cap and bent low over the plate. Sonic stared curiously at him until he mustered up the moxie to pitch. Waluigi let out a loud wail as he swung, sending the ball over Amy's head and almost instantly into a 3-home run. The dug-outers jumped out of their seats, while the fielders groaned.

"You couldn't have jumped, Amy?" Shadow asked, a bit of sting in his tone.

"Did you see the height of the ball? It would've brushed my glove if I jumped!"

"then it may have been a fair instead! But now they're up 3 points!"

"Guys! Can the last-inning drama!" Sonic ordered, having a ball replace the old one. He watched sadly as Yoshi, Luigi, then Waluigi each danced for joy when they stepped successfully onto the home base. Natalie shifted the score to 33-30, shrugging then cheering ecstatically. Sonic clutched his baseball and whispered, "Please…"

Mario was up to bat, and everyone leaned in, awaiting to see what drama would be caused between the duo. To their great shock, surprise, and dismay, nothing did. Sonic just threw, Mario swung, and he ended up missing.

"Strike 1!"

"A little rusty, Mario?" Sonic asked, ready to pitch to Mario again. Mario just rolled his eyes.

"Rusty? I'm in better shape than ever before!"

"Oh really?" Sonic continued, slowly starting to turn. "Think you'll get a hit off me?"

"Definitely. Think you could get one off me?"

"No."

Sonic then vanished into a whirlwind- a tornado on the very pitcher's mound. As fast as it had started, the ball was suddenly propelled out of the mini-cyclone, and right into Child's glove a second time. Mario blinked.

"Strike 2!"

"Mario! Don't get out, please!" Peach begged, nearly falling to her knees. "We already have one out!"

"No need to remind!" Daisy spat, obviously cheesed. Peach cringed and grinned sheepishly.

"Eh, sorry."

"You princess is right, Mario…" Sonic sang. Mario shrugged.

"Maybe. Just try and stop me."

"Hmph! No problem! YAH!"

Ball went soaring, bat went swinging. Bat also lit up in fire. The burning bat lit the ball on fire, and ball went flying into the outfield. Silver quickly jumped up to catch, but pulled a Sonic and completely forgot the ball was on fire in the first place. As Silver danced around screaming something about Chuck Norris on a stick, Mario went flying to first.

"Way to go Silver. What did I say about burning balls?" Blaze complained.

"You told_ Sonic _that-"

"Throw the ball!" Cream cried, realizing Mario was going for a double. Silver and Rouge both went for it, Tails' widening his eyes and backing up. Rouge shoved Silver out of the way, snagged the ball, then tossed it at Cream awaiting at second. Mario's inner instinct kicked however, and slid to second, and knocked Cream down.

"Aii!"

The ball went flying over the base, which Sonic jumped up and caught. Mario quickly stood up and helped Cream.

"Are you okay?"

Cream nodded. "I'm fine! At least I wasn't being used as a shield this time…"

Both of them glared at Waluigi, who shrunk into the corner.

"Anyway…" Sonic trailed, turning around to continued the game. Peach was now up and she was slightly terrified of Sonic.

"You're, like, getting revenge on everyone, aren't you?" Peach gulped.

"Maybe."

"Strike 1!"

"SONIC!"

"What? I only use my Star Swing once…otherwise it wouldn't be fair! Besides, it's fun to watch you guys yell at me."

"Jerk!"

"Look who's talking!"

"JUST PITCH!" roared most of the players.

"C'mon! We can finally end this stupid game!" called Shadow.

Sonic gritted his teeth as he threw, Peach smacking the ball over his head and cueing him to duck.

"Wowzers."

"Let's go! C'mon!" Amy cried frantically, jumping up and down on first base. "She's coming up fast!"

"Worry about Mario!" shouted Shadow, watching the plumber make his way over. "He's more likely to get home!"

"Yo outfield!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Trying!" Rouge shouted back, flying up to try and catch Peach's ball. It bounced off her glove, prompting Silver to jump up and catch up, but it rolled out of his, and then Tails, who was standing and watching Mario head for third, unintentionally caught the ball.

"FAIR!"

"What!"

"Just go throw it!" Shadow yelled,

"Unh!"

Tails chucked the ball to Shadow, who was intent on actually getting someone out. But Mario had suddenly grown three times his size and plowed into Shadow, stomping on the base.

"What the-?"

"Enlarge! Ciao!"

Mario laughed and continued for home, everyone going simply mad. Peach, knowing everyone would go for Mario, eagerly headed for second. DK was freaking out in the stands while Knuckles was shouting at the top of his lungs. Everyone in the dugout was jumping up and down and screaming things that no one could understand.

"I'm almost there!" Mario cried.

"SHADOW!"

Shadow jumped up and caught the ball Tails' threw (man, was it ever late) and quickly propelled it toward home base. Child prepared herself- Shadow threw hard. The ball was aiming to hit Mario in the back, which would've happened if Luigi didn't cry out:

"BRO! SLIDE!"

Mario asked no questions and quickly stretched out his leg, ducking under the path of the ball and raising a cloud of dirt. The ball flew completely over Mario, compelling Child to jump over to catch it, but even so, Mario was already safe.

"Cough cough…yeesh, dirt much?"

"Sorry," Mario replied, brushing even more dirt off his work clothes and strolled happily back to the dugout.

"You guys all know he was safe, right?"

Mario's team erupted in cheers while Sonic's team started yelling at Shadow.

"It's not my fault! If Tails threw faster-"

"If Silver caught it-"

"If Rouge didn't drop it-"

"If Blaze didn't have plot holes-"

"If Amy wasn't a stalker-"

"If I wasn't insulted-"

"If I wasn't the Ultimate Lifeform-"

"If I was invisible-"

"PEOPLE!" Sonic shouted. "Stop blaming each other and play!"

He didn't even need to look as the ball was returned to his mitt. Sonic then turned away from the field and at the batter: Wario. Shadow evilly rubbed his hands. Everyone noticed that and sweat dropped. Sonic sighed and just threw normally. Wario chuckled deeply and hit the ball with as much man power as he could muster. The crack made everyone's ears ring, and once again, the ball was sent to the outfield. Peach gasped and hurried for third while Wario hobbled to first.

"Get him out!" "Run faster Wario!" "Don't forget Peach!" "GO PEACH!"

Peach reached third way faster than Wario reached first, and even dared to knocked Shadow down with a well-placed celebration spin.

"Um, OW!"

"Oops, tee hee!"

As Shadow was swearing up revenge, Tails, Silver, and Rouge were having a debate in the outfield, the ball still slowly headed for them and Wario still slowly headed to first.

"Oh! Oh! It's going to go over!" cried Silver.

"So do something about! I'm not fast enough to get the ball!" Rouge spat back.

"I'm not fast either!"

Tails sighed and quickly ventured upward, right in the line of the baseball.

"Sometimes it takes the smart one…"

Wario's baseball landed right in Tails' glove, as if it was destined to fall there. Tails smirked, still flying in midair. Mario threw up his hands and groaned, Cream and Blaze exchanged a high five, while both Shadow and Wario went on a rampage.

"Ah, how come the two-tailed kid can get Wario out BUT I CAN'T! I am the Ultimate!"

Tails struck a Sonic pose and grinned at Shadow. "Because I'm awesome."

Shadow's eye twitched, but at least he got some entertainment out of Wario's reaction.

"WHAT! How dare he get the great Wario out! It took serious muscles to even hit that ball and you ruined my amazing effort! Why I outta-"

"Just come back to the dugout, Wario…" Waluigi gritted.

"You can't tell me what to do!"

"Get over here, you oaf!"

"All right, fine…"

Sonic turned to Peach. "Really. What is wrong with him?"

Peach shook her head. "I don't have the slightest clue."

Sonic heaved a sigh and returned his focus to pitching-

"Oh yeah! The score is 34-30, now." Natalie randomly interrupted.

"Thank you for the update…"

"Just helping!"

Sonic pitched quickly to Toad, who missed.

"Strike 1!"

Sonic's smile faltered a bit when he pitched again, seeing Toad struggle a little when he swung.

"Strike 2!"

He tossed the ball up and down in his hand again- man, was this some sign that proved he was nervous- thinking.

"Just throw it, Sonic!" Amy called.

"All right."

Sonic brought his hand back as far as it would go, then flung the ball forward. This little change was enough to give Toad time to get ready, and he actually hit it this time. Once again, chaos broke loose when Toad started running, and only Sonic seemed calm.

_"That's one less not-confident hitter."_

"Way to go Toad!" Peach shirked upon reach home base. Natalie adjusted the score to 35-30, then jumped up and down excitedly. Toad made it to first and also started to cheer. The ball, that was headed for Silver, promptly conked him in the head while the rest of the fielders glared.

"What the heck? Since when is everyone getting all these hits?" complained Rouge.

"Don't worry about it, because we'll get just as many…" Sonic trailed.

"Easy for you to say," huffed Shadow.

"Will you quit doing that!"

"Doing what?"

"…that."

"I don't know what you're talking about-"

"THAT!"

"What! Me speaking to you?"

"Oh, _never mind_…"

Sonic ignored anything else Shadow had to say. Yoshi was up to bat again, and this time, he was ready for anything Sonic would throw at him. And the last time someone thought that they ended up getting-

"Bean! Batter takes base!"

"Ow! My nose! Why has it been such a target lately? !"

"Eh heh heh…sorry about that Yoshi. Really…" Sonic chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Stop pitching like Amy!"

"I wasn't THAT bad…" Amy protested.

"All those beans and balls told otherwise!"

Luigi was up again, this time a tiny bit more confident than before. Sonic looked thoughtful before using his Star Pitch again. Luigi still kept his eyes on Sonic, until he heard the thud in Child's glove.

"Uh-"

"Strike!"

Luigi turned to Sonic who was grinning sheepishly.

"Sorry! I couldn't help it!"

"Hrgh…"

Sonic chuckled while spinning the ball on his finger. "All right, I'll be nice and stop."

"Thank you-"

"Strike 2!"

"SONIC!"

"Bahahaha! Did you see you face? Heh heh heh…"

"Leave poor Luigi alone!"

Sonic pitched once again, Luigi acting quickly and striking the ball. It disappeared in a tornado of wind, effectively knocking Sonic down as Toad and Yoshi advanced to their next bases.

"Ow! Wind packs a punch…and I should know…"

"Go! GO!" screamed Daisy. Everyone in the field, including Toad and Yoshi, yelped and once again cued the flip-out session. Amy, Blaze, and Shadow were all screaming for the ball, the ball was headed for Rouge's part of the field, and Toad was headed for third faster than Luigi was for first, but still slower than Yoshi was headed for second.

"Who am I supposed to throw it to?" Rouge questioned.

"Anyone!" yelled Tails and Silver. "They only need one more out!"

Rouge cringed then just threw the ball. The likeliness was that it was headed somewhere between Blaze and Amy.

"Good fielder huh?" snapped Silver.

"Well sorry I was under pressure!"

While they started bickering, Toad decided to take the change to head to home, heart thumping in his chest. Yoshi decided they had nothing to lose and followed Toad, while Luigi stayed safe at first, seeing how dangerously close to the ball he was. Shadow started having an anger outburst like Knuckles would, ("HEY!") Toad was running for his life, Yoshi was just casually jogging, and Blaze and Amy were both headed for the ball.

"Don't both go!" Cream cried, filling in Blaze's spot for second. Amy got the ball before blaze, Blaze fell face first into the ground, Amy threw to Cream for a better shot at Shadow, but Yoshi had already hit third and decided to go for home as well. Toad had miraculously also gotten a home run, getting him praise from Peach and the others, and once Amy threw the ball, then Cream threw the ball, Luigi took off for second.

"Madness! MADNESS!" gaped Sonic.

"Get SOMEONE out!" yelled Knuckles.

"Let's go, Yoshi!" Toad called, now safe in the dugout.

"Score is 36-30!"

"AARGGH!"

"LET'S MOVE!"

"COME ON!" shouted Mario and Sonic.

The delay it took to get the ball from Amy to Cream to Shadow allowed the ever speedy Yoshi to reach home without a problem. The only problem remaining was Luigi headed for second still after stumbling a little-

"RAGH!"

The ball suddenly lit up in some sort of aura as Shadow threw it, rocketing toward second base. Blaze caught this at the last moment, dove over, mitt hand extended, caught the ball, then right before Luigi put his foot on the base, Blaze tapped his shoulder with the ball…and they also both fell and ended up in a pile.

"Out 3! Change sides!" Child cried.

"Way to go Blaze!" "Nice one, Luigi!"

Amy and Cream both jaunted over and helped Luigi and Blaze up, both saying, "Good try Luigi," then tackling Blaze in hugs and cheers. Blaze, being the girl that always desired her space, allowed them a few precious seconds before pushing them away. Silver walked up right behind her and gave her a slap on the back, which she responded with a playful yet painful all the same punch to the shoulder.

"Okay you guys! You know what this means?" Sonic asked. "We need 8 runs!_ 8_, people! 6, we **lose**, 7 we** tie** and go into another stinkin' inning, and 8 we **win**! We need 8! 8 is the magic number people! Lucky 8-"

"We get the point, Sonic…" Shadow stated while rolling his eyes. "We need 8. Okay."

"Well sorry that I'm suddenly getting into this now!"

"It's really fun, isn't it?" chuckled Tails.

"Maybe we'll play again soon-" began Blaze.

"NO! There is NO WAY I'm playing baseball against these suckers AGAIN!" Shadow exclaimed boldly.

"-in our own world?"

"…oh."

"Well, if we need 8 runs, we'd better play smart," Rouge stated.

"Yeah, and I'll get our first and hopefully only out," Sonic muttered. "Which means I'm counting on the rest of you to make all your hits and get us some runs!"

"Uh, Sonic?" Tails.

"Yes, little bro.?"

"Well, originally we had 9 players. We lost Knuckles. Now we have 8. And if we take you out, considering your, uh, lack of hitting ability, that leaves 7 players. Which means 7 potential points that the odds are we won't even get. But, if we somehow make it back around with no outs, besides you, then you'll be the tiebreaker."

"And the odds that we'll all make our hits and actually get on the bases and that they won't catch any of our balls isn't very high either," pointed out Blaze.

"Do you really think 8 straight runs is that easy?" Shadow questioned. "I'm telling you, we're going to lose."

Sonic gave Shadow a pained look. "We have to try, Shadow."

Shadow held up his hands. "I'm not even _attempting_ to be cruel. I truly believe we're going to lose."

"We will with that attitude…" Amy huffed, walking by him and heading for the dugout.

"Look, the odds aren't in favor of us! Sonic's "everyone needs to hit" plan isn't all that genius, you know."

"Meh, we'll show you!" Sonic exclaimed. "We'll prove you, and anybody that'd ever doubted us wrong."

Shadow was dying to say something, but thought better of it and shook his head. "Whatever. I don't have time to bother with you, Faker."

"Everyone really needs to ease up…" Cream squeaked. "…all you have to do is do you best."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Cream!" Tails laughed.

"Of course not Tails…" groaned Silver. "But! No point in being negative! Let's get out there and try to not lose!"

"Yeah, then people can be like, "Way to not fail!"

**Meanwhile-**

"7 runs is an amazing lead!" Mario exclaimed, exchanging high-fives with the group on the way to the outfield.

"Now we just need to prevent them from catching up again, and we're in da BAG!" shrieked Daisy excitedly.

"Of course! We ARE the unbeatable baseball team, remember?" Waluigi snuck in. "Was there ever any doubt?"

"Um, yes-"

"Quiet Toad!"

"Waluigi does have a point!" Yoshi cried. "We've never lost before, why make this our first?"

"Exactly Yoshi!" Mario cried, snapping on his glove. He was on top of the world now! "Fireballs to victory!"

_Ninth Inning Bottom- Blurs hitting, Fireballs pitching  
__Current Score: 37-30_  
_Next Three Up To Bat- Sonic, Silver, Cream_  
_Ninth Inning Mario Pitcher: Super Mario  
_  
_Fielding Positions: Daisy, Luigi, and Peach in outfield, Yoshi left field, Toad right field, Wario first base, and Waluigi third base._

Sonic was sweating bullets. No, buckets, No, swimming pools. Maybe more. Perhaps an ocean. It was one thing to know you were getting out. But getting out by one of your arch rivals? Meh…that really shoots the ego.

_"Not to mention he's flipping around like a fool on the mound and lighting his hands on fire…"_

Mario couldn't help it. He was just like Daisy- so excited, he couldn't help but express it. The way his team was positioned wasn't as strategically planned as Sonic's (though his sort of failed), but the top priority was that Wario wasn't in a spot where he'd be forced to do a lot of running.

"All right, do your fancy-smancy pitching a get me out already so we can get the real game on the road," Sonic quipped.

Mario raised an eyebrow. "You're that sure you going to get out?"

"Yes! Dude, I hit with the amount of skill as a rock! Just pitch so you'll have worthy competition and won't waste time mocking me."

"I wasn't even going to-"

"No, don't bother protesting. I'm just trying to prepare myself."

"…you are very dramatic when you're stressed, aren't you?" Mario questioned.

"And he also compares himself to random inanimate objects too," added Child quietly.

"How did you know- I mean, that's really not relevant to the situation, _is it_?"

Mario just rolled his eyes and pitched. Sonic gave an "I-told-you-so" look as he swung, missing completely.

"Strike 1!"

"Hmm…"

Mario pondered a bit, turning the ball in his hands. Sonic started tapping his foot. Impatience.

"Okay…"

Mario jumped when he pitched the ball, then landed with a hand on the ground and a leg extended. Sonic once again swung.

"…"

"Well? Strike 2?"

"You hit it, you idiot!" Shadow called. Sonic did a double take.

"I hit it? Again! What a mira-"

"RUN SONIC!"

"You'd never think you'd need to tell** Sonic** to** run**…"

Sonic asked no questions, though confused, but took off for first. Yoshi caught the ball and turned to throw it to Wario but surprise, surprise. It was too late. Sonic was more happy at the fact he had hit it rather than the fact he was safe.

"Oh yeah! Go Sonic! Uh huh, uh huh-"

"Wah, knock that off," grunted Wario. Sonic folded his arms and stuck up his nose.

"Fine, jerk. I'll be gone anyway."

Before had a chance to ask what that meant, he saw Mario pitch to Silver, and then saw Sonic…well, the problem was that he didn't see Sonic. He was already at a stolen third base before Silver even hit. Silver did hit it though, and then Sonic bolted for home, making the first run of the inning.

"Do I even need to say 37-31?"

"What now, people? I made a run!" Sonic cheered.

"A pretty cheap run, to admit…" Rouge murmured under her breath.

"Heard that. Don't care. A run's a run!"

"And now if we all get runs, we'll win!" Amy gaped.

Shadow snorted. "Which'll never happen…"

"uh, hello? You do know Silver is running for his life out there?" Blaze input.

"What? Oh yeah."

Silver did hit it, and it went a little ways beyond Wario's territory, and thanks to his slowness, Silver took the chance for second. However, he forgot about Wario's immense strength, and this helped propel the ball at Godspeed toward Yoshi, who caught it, then tagged Silver out.

"Out 1!"

"Awwwww…"

Shadow looked highly smug.

"Shut up, Shadow."

"I didn't-"

"Your face speaks for itself."

"Good job, Yoshi!" Mario called as said dinosaur tossed him the ball.

"Yoshi!"

Cream was up to bat next, and Mario sweat dropped because certainly knew what she was capable of- even if she appeared incapable.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Mario?" Cream asked, turning his head. Mario shook his.

"No, no problem Cream…"

He pitched, Cream giggled (which he was deathly afraid of), and hit the ball, causing it to erupt in a thousand smiles. The fielders all gasped dramatically.

"STAR SWING!"

"Okay, you have to admit, that was pretty _nice_, ah?" chuckled Silver.

"Uuuugghhhhh…"

As always, everyone who was in contact with the ball instantly decided it "wouldn't be nice to get Cream out", and since she hit it quite far away, the effects lasted longer than usual. Cream made it to first no problem, and it was hardly a risk heading to second.

"She's such a nice girl, huh?" Luigi asked, staring at the ball down at his feet. Daisy trembled, trying to bend down and pick up the ball, but she couldn't.

"C'mon! Grab it! GRAB IT!" she yelled, more to herself than anyone else.

"We can't get out- she's just a girl!" Peach exclaimed. "It'd make her sad and cry-"

"WHY CAN'T I PICK UP THE STUPID BALL?"

Cream laughed happily and decided to head to third, despite a few protests. When she was almost there, the effects finally wore off. Daisy instantly bent down and snagged the ball, while Luigi and Peach did seconds later and ended up clonking heads.

"Waluigi!" Daisy screamed, pitching quickly, then quickly cringing realizing she had yelled his name. Waluigi quickly struck a confident pose, ready to heroically catch Daisy's ball, until Cream tripped over the base, then toppled onto Waluigi's leg- the one she had kicked. Cream fell onto the base, rendering her safe, while Waluigi howled in pain, grabbing his sore knee and hopping around, until Daisy' ball hit him in the side of the head and knocked him down.

"Sorry!" Cream squeaked, though it did seem pretty justified.

"Keep going Cream!" Amy screamed.

"Are you nuts?" howled Tails, Blaze, and Shadow.

"There's no way she can make it!" Rouge stated.

Sonic blinked. "She's apparently going anyway."

"WALUIGI GET YOUR BUTT OFF THE GROUND!" shouted Daisy, Yoshi, and Wario.

"You shouldn't be talking Daisy, you threw the ball at his head!" Toad exhausted.

"That's not my fault- Cream crashed into his leg!"

"Owwww…"

"Walk it off, Waluigi!"

Waluigi blinked, noticed the ball lying next to him -and a throbbing pain in both his head and his leg- and quickly snapped back up and into action. He sluggishly grabbed the ball, then stumbled a bit when he threw, the double-whammy really shaking him up. It was pretty safe to say the ball didn't even reach home, but Cream did.

Mario blinked. "Am I the only one who saw that coming?"

Team Sonic praised their youngest player while the outfielders shouted at Waluigi (except Toad because he knew better). Blaze just blinked as she walked up, not wanting to get caught on either side of the commotion.

"You guys aren't going to ignite the ball again, are you?" Silver asked.

"The only thing ignited will be you if you don't knock it off!" called Blaze and Mario. They then turned to each other and raised an eyebrow. "Weird."

Mario shrugged and then pitched. Blaze let out a very loud battle cry to indicate that she was going to hit that bat with every fiber in her being…but ended up bunting it and bolted to first. The ball rolled up to Mario who was still looking up to see where 'the ball flew over him until Wario started yelling that it was right by his foot.

"What- MAMA MIA!"

Mario scooped up the ball and threw it to first, but once again the runner was already safe. Unlike other runners though, Blaze didn't dare do something stupid and risky- like Cream, except she at least had a nice strategy.

"Okay, pray I actually do something to make look good in front of Sonic!" Amy exclaimed, picker her hammer up from dragging up on the ground and gave Mario an intimidating stare. "I won't let you beat my Sonic in a baseball game, do you hear me?"

"I'm sure anyone could hear you in a completely different WORLD," Mario replied with a hint of sting in his voice. "No offense."

"Well I'm offended!" Amy snapped back, holding her hammer with one hand. "I'll destroy all of you!"

"What are you supposed to be? Threatening?" sneered Wario, laughing until he caught sight of Blaze's murderous glare.

"Pitch." Amy dared. Mario shivered.

"I don't remember baseball being this…dangerous."

Out of fear, Mario threw his fast-paced Fireball Star Pitch, which Amy counted just as quickly with her hammering Star Swing. The ball's flame went out, as if in fear of Amy's hammer, and rocketed into the rightwards outfield. Blaze dashed off again, followed by the equally as speedy Amy. Wario knew running over there was completely out of the question, so it was up to Peach to run over and get the ball.

"No way Peach is getting me out!" Amy cackled, planting both feet violently on the base, raising dust that got into Wario's eyes and sent him running in circles, rubbing his eyes. Blaze, however, wasn't at second yet, and Yoshi was in position for Peach's ball. Thinking on pure adrenaline, Blaze lit up in fire and, upon being dangerously close to lethal flames, propelled Yoshi away from the burning cat as she safely reached second.

"HEY! She can't do that!" Yoshi called.

"Apparently she can if Mario can grow three times his size and squash innocent Ultimate Lifeforms…"

Mario lowered his eyes, yet said nothing to reply to the ebony hedgehog who was his next victim to pitch to.

He kicked out his leg, then propelled the ball toward Shadow. Silver elbowed Tails and pointed.

"I bet twenty rings that he's going to use-"

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

"You owe me twenty rings!"

"I didn't agree, so HA!"

"Darn it!"

It was all up to Mario's team being faster throwers and catchers than Sonic's team could run. Blaze rocketed for third, Amy sprinted to second, and Shadow skated to first and also promptly knocked Wario over his amazing awesomeness, sha. Eh, not really- but he did push him.

"Great! Now we have to go on a wild goose chase for the ball!" sighed Toad, plainly frustrated.

Shadow happily headed off the for second, forcing Amy and Blaze to continue also. However, Wario grinned devilishly and tripped Shadow with his stubby leg, since he was on the ground. Shadow yelled as he thudded against the hard dirt ground, glaring darkly at Wario.

"If I didn't need to get to second base…" he hissed.

"Nobody messes with Wario!"

"And nobody gets away alive from Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Aren't you supposed to be running?"

"…..lucky you."

Shadow disappeared in a black blur, reaching the base almost as fast as Sonic could. Then, that was when the ball finally reappeared, falling out of midair and getting stuck in Wario's nose. Everyone fielding was instantly repulsed, even more repulsed than at the fact Blaze just scored another run ("YES! I didn't get out for once!"), the score was now 37-32, and Amy was also going for a run also. Shadow gave his usual evil snicker.

"There is no way I'm touching that," Peach said, holding up her hand and sticking up her nose.

"And I thought my nose was big…" mused Yoshi and Waluigi.

"At least he didn't eat it this time!" Blaze exclaimed, although sweat dropping.

"Wario! Snort it out!" Daisy roared, stomping her foot. Luigi was appalled.

"Daisy! That's so…"

"Not ladylike? We all know I'm a tomboy. But if it makes you feel better, my girlish instincts are kicking out when I say I wouldn't touch that thing even if it saved me from death. Yuck."

Shadow was apparently staying put, simply satisfied with shoving Wario down and wedging a baseball up his nose. But now Amy was the target for the fielders. Daisy was almost ready to storm over there and stomp on Wario to expel he ball, but even she knew better than that. Shadow could have very easily ran, but he didn't. While his team was shouting for him to go, Wario finally sat up and snuffed out the baseball.

"Can we put a new baseball into play?" Toad asked. Child nodded.

"Yes. Yes we can. I don't even want to catch it. Then I'd need to burn my glove."

Well, Amy had flawlessly made it home anyway, so Wario shrugged, tossed the ball over his shoulder (hitting Shadow, who started shouting the usual catchphrases) and Child tossed Mario a sanitized baseball. Rouge then strolled up to bat, giving Shadow a look.

"Better make it home…"

"I'll make it as long as Wario doesn't interfere," Shadow sniffed back.

Mario just shook his head and pitched. Rouge swung and-

"Strike numero UNO!"

Rouge gave the umpire a look- the umpire grinned back sheepishly.

Mario threw again; this time, Rouge gave it a somewhat weak smack and darted for first. Shadow zipped for third, meanwhile. He gave Waluigi a dark look (Waluigi had no idea what he'd ever done) and continued onward for home. Everyone in the dugout literally screamed when his foot was planted on the base- they were pulling off the impossible!

"Good job Shadow!" "Awesome Shadow!" "You were sweet Shadow!" "We love you Shadow!"

"Get offa me! I know I'm the Ultimate…" Shadow grumbled after being tackled by just about everybody. "Hopefully you'll remember that now."

"You can't even take a compliment without making yourself seem ultimate, can you?" sighed Sonic.

"Guys, stop celebrating!" Cream suddenly cried, pointing frantically back out at the field. Everyone turned to look, and saw Daisy throw the ball to Wario, who caught it and smirked as Rouge reached the base a second too late.

"Out two!" "Score's 37-35!"

"Ugh, really?" Rouge complained.

"Wario's a jerk, isn't he?" Shadow called.

"Uh…you did great, Wario?" Mario attempted to praise along with the rest of his team.

"Ah, no need to tell me-"

"People are just so modest these days, huh?"

"Okay Tails, you've gotta get a run!" Sonic called.

"Sonic, that'll only put us to 36 if we do, and then you're up, and we have two outs-"

"Just do you best, Tails. Please."

Tails' gaze softened as he sighed. "I'll try."

"C'mon! Let's end this game already!" Yoshi called.

"It's probably past my bedtime…" commented Natalie.

_"If Tails can get a run…" _Sonic thought to himself. _"…and if I get a run, we'll be tied! Then if Silver gets back up, he can potentially give us the win. And if he doesn't, we'll go into overtime and get another shot. Yeah…this can work…Tails just needs to get on the base…"_

He then started speaking out loud.

"…and I HAVE to hit it, at the very, very least…"

_"We're really getting down to the wire…"_ Mario mused as Tails prepared himself. _"If I get Tails out, we'll win. If I don't, I can always get Sonic out. But, if by some miracle he hits it again, and then gets a run, we'll be tied and go into overtime. We can still own them in overtime if we need to. But if they claim another run after that? The unbeaten fireballs will be taken down by the worst baseball team probably out there…"_

"But there's no way Sonic's getting a hit, right?"

"Sonic might not, but I will!" Tails stated, indicating he had heard Mario.

"Oh what? Uh…yeah. Sure."

Tails lowered his eyes, which Mario had attempted to ignore. This was a very critical moment. It was either the automatic win for their team, a potential tie, or a miracle of a loss. But then again, if Tails simply hit it without getting a run, then the very same thing applied to when Sonic was up-

"Mario! Hellooooo?"

Mario grumbled to himself in Italian before finally throwing the ball to Tails. Tails swung and, unfortunately, missed.

"Strike 1!"

Tails gripped the bat tightly. Mario threw a change up. Tails missed again.

"Strike 2! Another strike and the game's over!"

"Yeah, that doesn't add any pressure…"

"Sorry Tails."

Mario just stared at Tails- it would be awful if he lost the game for his team. Then again, it'd be awful for anyone if they were the losing out! But Tails was on the verge of tears, which made Mario's heart sink. There was noting he could do though, but pitch.

CRACK-

"RUN TAILS!" "RUN! RUN!" "AW SNAP!" "GET HIM OUT!" "TAILS!"

Tails' eyes were getting ready to fall out of his head, especially if he widened them any more and bugged them out any farther. Everyone went crazy, screaming things and running around, causing Tails to press his ears against his head just to drown out the sound. The ball landed in an awkward spot, right smack in the middle of Mario's, Toad's, Luigi's and Yoshi's area of the field.

"I've got it!" cried the three latter, all running for it. Peach, Daisy, and Waluigi were screaming like lunatics as Wario just awaited Tails and/or the ball.

"GO TAILS! CAN'T YOU RUN ANY FASTER? WE CAN STILL WIN THIS! DON'T DIE! I-"

DK simply poked several of Knuckles' pressure points, calming him down instantly.

"Thanks. Almost burst my stitches with the excitement."

DK gave a thumbs up.

Toad, Luigi, and Yoshi landed in a pile, the ball popping out and hitting Luigi in the head.

"Of course…"

Yoshi grabbed the ball with his tongue, then spat it out toward Wario. However, his tongue was nowhere as speed as his throwing speed, causing the ball to take a few precious extra seconds to reach Wario, and giving Tails to completely fall flat on the base and hysterically scream that he was safe.

"Okay, we get it, Tails!"

"SAFE! SAFE! SAFE! SAFE! SA-oh, okay…"

Mario was perplexed. Tails was safe. But someone was going to get out. Whether it be him…

...or Sonic, who was probably five times as terrified as Tails was.

_"There's no way he can do this…"_  
_"There's no way I can do this…"_

"Looks like game over now, people…" Daisy trailed.

"Might as well call the out now…" muttered Shadow.

"We're so close to winning!" chuckled Waluigi.

"Sonic, no!" Amy cried.

"It was fun while it lasted…" Toad mused.

"It can't be over already, can it?" Silver asked.

"It was over before it started!" exclaimed Wario.

"Well, we won't lose as badly as I thought…" pondered Blaze.

Mario looked at Sonic. "You think you can do this?"

Sonic solemnly looked back up and mouthed, "No."

"Well, no point in holding off- let's end this!" Yoshi called.

"Don't let it be over, Sonic…" murmured Knuckles.

Sonic sucked in a lot of air, then heave it out in long, heavy breath.

"Bring it on, Mario."

"Basically the strikes I'm going to give you are the countdown to the end of the game."

"…I know. Thanks for pointing it out!"

"Sorry."

Mario kicked his leg out, then chucked the ball straight down the middle. Sonic wholehearted attempted to swing, but of course missed.

"Strike 1."

Mario swallowed hard. Sonic gave him a weak smile, but you could still tell he was highly upset about being on the verge of losing. He sucked up, jumped up, then threw the ball when he came back down, the one hand on the ground and the one leg sticking out.

"Strike 2."

This was it. The finisher. The game would dramatically end in the form of an anti-climatic strike out. Half of the cries were for Mario to put the game out of its misery, while the other half were cheering for Sonic, though they knew the efforts weren't worth the effort. Sonic gave one last breath and looked up at Mario again.

"Well, it sure was nice playing…I had fun, even if I do suck."

"That's good, I guess. Thanks for coming all this way, even though we don't even remember inviting you…"

Sonic blinked. "Wait…you _weren't_ looking for challengers from other worlds?"

Mario shook his head. "No! We found out in the newspaper that you had accepted a challenge we didn't even send out!"

"But then why didn't you tell us this was some sort of mistake?"

"We were all hyped up on baseball at the time, and since we've never lost a game, we said, 'Why not?'"

Sonic smiled again. "Well, this is just another game you won't end up losing, you know. I'd say we should do this again sometime, but I don't know if I could handle anymore failure."

"You make it sound like you're going to die!"

"My ego sure is dying…"

"Cut the small talk and pitch already!" Tails, Luigi, Amy, Peach, Yoshi, Knuckles, Toad, Cream, Wario, Shadow, Waluigi, Silver, Daisy, Blaze, and Rouge all called. "Please just end the game!"

Mario adjusted his cap and positioned him self. Sonic tightened his grip on the bat and kept his eyes on the ball. Both of them mentally thought the same thing.

"Here we go."

Everyone watching in the stands stood up (except Knuckles, who did enough by leaning over the edge), hoping to get a better look. Everyone in the dugout gripped each other for support, except Shadow who slunk away to a corner, but still watched will great interest. Everyone in the outfield were waiting for the words to finally end this game and secure them yet another win.

"Wa-hoo!" Mario shouted, pitching what was to be the final pitch of the game. Sonic could have very easily just let the ball fall snugly into Child's glove, definitely securing the game's fate, but the fire of determination inside Sonic suddenly roared to life. He may be going down, but he wasn't going down without a fight. His eyes squeezed tight, thinking about all the ridicule he had gotten from being a terrible batter, and all the mistakes he made. He remembered everyone mocking him, and him even bringing himself down.

_"If I can't rely on you to pull us back together, then who can I rely on?"_

Sonic's eye shot open, just before the ball was within hitting range. He brought his bat back behind him a ways, then brought it forward with a bold, life-filled cry of "COME ON!"

Everyone had the same reaction: "WHAT! ?"

The ball was hit with another devastating crack, one that nearly split Sonic's bat into two. Mario was completely dumbstruck while Tails realized what had happened and ran for his little life.

"HOLY-" Knuckles started, until DK clamped a hand over his mouth.

"WAY TO GO SONIC!" "HOW CAN THAT BE?" "WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T GET OUT!" "WHATEVER YOU DO, GET HIM OUT!"

The crowd went mad- what a plot twist! The ball landed right before Mario, but then was suddenly surrounded by a whirlwind, rendering it untouchable. Mario reached in to grab it and was instantly blown away- and he was still just as shocked that Sonic managed to pull off his Star Swing.

The crowd's cheers crossed the area like an earthquake- more action for them! Amy tackled Silver in a hug since that was closest thing to Sonic she had (besides Shadow), Cream jumped up and down excitedly, hugging Blaze, and Shadow went and hugged Rouge…until he received smug looks.

"I waned to hug her before _she _invaded my _own_ personal space-" Shadow said, tried to make an excuse.

"_You're_ just happy Sonic got a hit!" Amy cried.

"No-"

"He was just allured by my presence," giggled Rouge.

"Can we just turn back to action instead of making fun of why I did mine? !"

Tails was literally screaming because he was terrified, now headed to third, and Sonic had rocketed over first was aiming for second- and soon to be home. Daisy was yelling and on the verge of pulled her hair out, Luigi had a lopsided smile, Peach was yelling incoherent words, and Yoshi and Toad just stood with their jaws dropped. The whirlwind finally slowed down, but as Mario reached over to snag the ball once and for all, the mini-tornado had flung the ball into the outfield.

"That is _so _cheap!"

"You're too slow!" Sonic called. Mario shook a fist.

"Don't even go there!"

"Get it Luigi! Get it Luigi!" Daisy shouted frantically as her beloved plumber squared himself up to the ball that was flying at him. The ball rocketed straight into Luigi's glove, sending him stumbling back at little. Now the screams were divided between "Throw the ball Luigi" and "Run for your freakin' life Tails".

Tails was still yelling incoherent things as he plowed onto third, unintentionally slapping Waluigi with his tails, as they were rapidly spinning and making him go even faster. Of course, it hit Waluigi's bad leg, and he fell over halfway- until he magically stopped himself because Daisy shouted, "Don't you even DARE think about it!"

"I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die-"

"FASTER TAILS I'M TELLING YOU! WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T SLOW DOWN-"

DK gave Knuckles a glare as he checked to make sure he wasn't deaf. Knuckles stopped shouting and grinned sheepishly.

Luigi super-threw, aiming at Mario, in an attempt to get Tails out, since Waluigi was still doubled over and Sonic had nearly knocked him down with his aftermath whoosh of wind. Tails was so terrified he thought his heart would beat right out of his chest- though that was obviously scientifically impossible.

"Go faster ball!" Yoshi yelled, helplessly ground pounding the ground.

"You can't blame the ball-"

"Then I'll blame you, Luigi!"

"What would you do if you were in such a situation?"

"GUYS!"

Tails lunged forward and nearly fell face first on the base, sweating and panting quite heavily. He then remembered Sonic was stampeding on his way and quickly scrambled/tumbled back into the dugout where Amy and Cream caught him before he fell again.

"Good job Tails!"

"Unnnurrrghh…"

Natalie quickly changed the score and joined the commotion by jumping and screaming. "37-36! 37-36! AAIIIII!"

Mario at long last caught the ball Luigi threw, then without missing a beat turned around and charged toward home- where Sonic was also charging toward. He was moving so fast he ended up curling into a ball- also because he really didn't want to see what was about to happen. Mario had sprung off his boot, hand with the ball extended to tag Sonic. Child knew she wasn't catching a ball anytime soon and dove out of the way, but still close enough to see and call it. The entire stadium just about lurched forward to see history in the making.

Mario and Sonic collided, everyone letting out a unified gasp. They both grunted, sending a cloud of dust in the air, only Mario, Sonic, and Child witnessing the one and only defining moment. When the dust settled, it revealed Sonic on the base, Mario with the ball tapping Sonic, and both of them wheezing and gaping for breath.

"Urgh, get off me and lay off the pasta…" Sonic groaned, shoving the plumber off.

"Ow…sorry…and I happen to enjoy pasta very much. I can't help that."

Everyone turned to Child, who's eyes were wide and heart pumped just as fast and Tails was.

"Well?" Natalie asked impatiently, pulling a Sonic by folding her arms and tapping her foot. "What happened?"

"Who won?"

Child just sighed and hung her head. "I can't believe I'm saying this…"

Everyone nearly fell out of their seats.

"But Mario…"

Both Mario and Sonic looked up hopefully. Fireballs hoping for a win, and Blurs hoping for a tie and a second chance.

"...I'm really sorry to say..."

Mario's eyes widened while Sonic felt his heart skip a beat.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"…you got Sonic out."

The crowd exploded as Child cast out her hand and shouted, "That's the ball game!"

Peach and Daisy cheered and went to hug each other, although Luigi somehow got caught in the middle. Yoshi and Toad tossed down their gloves and started dancing around, while Waluigi and Wario gave a high five then discussed the money they could scam off this game. DK rapidly pounded his chest while Knuckles just sat next to him, shaking his head.

"Man, talk about cuttin' it close…"

Mario was now standing, glanced down at Sonic, whose face was planted in he dirt and whose fist was pounding at the ground. He tapped the hedgehog, then held out a hand to help him up again. Sonic glanced up, brushed the dirt off, then accepted the help.

"I'm, uh, so-"

Sonic held up a hand. "Say nothing. It was just a game."

Mario was surprised, then Sonic winked at him. He then held out his hands and shouted, "C'mon! Mario just won another baseball game and_ this_ is all the praise he gets? Let them hear it!"

With one raised fist came the loudest applause and cheers yet, Luigi, Peach, and all the rest of them running up to Mario and tossing him into the air. Sonic smirked and put his hands on his hips.

"You gotta admit, that was pretty neat!"

He then somewhat sadly turned to his team to apologize to them, but he was just as surprised as Mario was when they ended up bombarding him with praise.

"That was awesome!" Silver cried, holding up Sonic's hand for him and high-fiving it.

"Wow, did you _see _that?" Tails exclaimed, once again breaking out another catchphrase.

"I know! I'm still shaking in excitement!" Cream replied. "You were great!"

"Huh? But I lost the game for us!" Sonic protested.

"But you actually hit the ball," Blaze pointed out.

"And you managed to get me home!" added Tails.

"Sure we lost, but at least it wasn't as much of a brutal beating as I thought it would be," teased Rouge.

Sonic grinned. "So…you guys aren't mad?"

"Of course not!" Amy exclaimed. "Yeah, we're a little upset we lost, but hey- it could have been anyone that got out, right? Someone has to lose!"

"Hmph, I told you we'd lose…" Shadow tried to say mater-of-factly, but failed because it was slightly obvious that he was disappointed too. "Oh well- the good news is we can all just go home now."

Sonic nodded. "Right you are, my somewhat friend. Now, how are we going to get Knuckles back-"

"Wait! You're just going to leave?" Toad asked, running up to them.

"Yeah. We lost. We're all losers except for me. Why stick around?" Shadow asked.

"Because after every baseball we throw a party!" Peach cried. "And I bake my famous cake!"

"It is good cake…" Mario sighed. "But seriously, stick around awhile! We'll call up all our friends and we'll have this thing set up in no time!"

"Is it a pity party?" Rouge asked, arms folded.

"No- we even throw one if we lose!" Luigi replied.

"We have them just because we love baseball!" Yoshi finished.

"So will you stay a bit?" Daisy asked.

"I want to!" Tails cried, then shrunk back. "Er, uh, if it's okay with _you_, Sonic…"

Sonic glanced over his shoulder. "What do you guys think?"

Amy, Silver, Cream, and Blaze agreed, Rouge just shrugged, and Shadow muttered something about it "being a waste a time", but that just meant he wanted to and didn't dare to show it. Sonic turned back around and looked at Mario.

"I guess we could stay- there's nothing my schedule that says we can't!"

"Your schedule?" Shadow sneered. "You don't even have one!"

"Like this party is going to interfere with what little plans you have, Shadow."

Peach threw up her hands…then whipped out a cell phone. "I'll call up everyone then!"

. . . . .

"Are you mad that we lost?" Sonic asked Knuckles, who was still sitting in the stands even though the crowd had cleared out (except the fan girls who attempted to abduct Shadow but Silver took care of them thanks to a spare cage). Knuckles just shrugged.

"Nah. You can't say you didn't try, that's for sure."

"I'd ask if you'd come down for the party, but you're still…"

Knuckles smirked. "You really think I'm going to stay all banged up for a month? I can just heal myself with the Master Emerald!"

"Which you didn't _bring?"_

"Well, I usually-"

"-and we left Eggman home! I hope he doesn't figure out we're gone…"

**Meanwhile-**

"HEY! Why hasn't Sonic attempted to destroy my Egg-atron Egg-Thousand Today? Hmm…"

* * *

**o.O Wasn't expecting this chapter to be over 9,000 words! (Actually, over 10,000) Guess I got a little carried away, heh heh...so, that's that. Mario won, Sonic lost. I was going to have Sonic win, but then you'd see that coming, then I was going to make it a tie, but that'd be cliche...I like this ending better. ^^ Stay tuned for the epilogue! **


	11. Looks Like They Hit it Off

Mario vs. Sonic in a Game of Baseball

Epilogue: Looks Like They Hit it Off

"Now, before we kick off the winner's celebration, let's check out the scoreboard!" Natalie announced via a microphone that she somehow obtained.

Mario : 2|6|2|1|5|6|4|4|7  
Sonic : 2|6|4|1|1|5|4|7|6

Mario beamed a little when he received MVP for his team, while Wario grunted for receiving LVP. Meanwhile, Knuckles, despite being taken out of the game, was given MVP (insisted by Sonic), and they all broke down laughing at Shadow's reaction when he got LVP.

"No! This is some sort of mistake! I am the Ultimate! The Ultimate always wins!"

"If you really were the Ultimate, we would've had a few more runs and we _would_ have won," Amy protested, which got Shadow to quiet down a little.

"Hmph, I knew we'd lose…_though we sure we close…"_

"Well, now that's done…" Child sighed. "C'mon Natalie! We're going home!"

"What? But I wanted cake and to watch the fireworks!"

"This is their party, not ours. Besides, YOU even said it was past your bedtime-"

"Er, So what? I'm too cool for a bedtime!"

"Let's go…"

"Fine…" Natalie jumped down, then landed as stylishly as always (especially in black high heel boots) and waved to everyone. "Bye guys! Sorry I have to leave! I'm just taking a good chunk of the fun away-"

Child rolled her eyes and grabbed Natalie's wrist. "Anyway, ignoring Madame Loud-Mouth, see you guys later!"

Everyone except Shadow, Wario, and Waluigi waved back and said goodbye as the two girls headed back to MS Station (one dragging the other).

. . .

The gang then traveled to Daisy's Cruiser, where Peach then pointed to the large mass of 'friends' she had called. It was the entire roster! From Birdo to Tiny Kong to Petey Piranha. And they had a ton of party items.

"Help set up, everyone!" Peach called, taking a cake from the colorful Toad Brigade and setting on a table Funky Kong had brought.

"All right- the grub is here!" Wario bellowed, waddling over.

"Wow, they sure get around…" Tails trailed.

"Hi guys!" cried Hammer Bro, Fire Bro, and Boomerang Bro. "Bet you didn't know we were baseball stars too, huh?"

"I'll truthfully say I never expected that," Blaze replied. "Or the fact that Daisy has a boat-"

"It's a cruiser!"

"Didja guys lose to Mario's outstanding skills?" Fire Bro. asked.

"Dude, of course they did! Mario's unbeatable!" Boomerang Bro. replied.

"What do you guys want?" questioned Rouge.

"Nothing- we just wanted to talk to you!" Hammer Bro. exclaimed. "We can't stay long through- you know we can't let Bowser know we're really on the good side!"

"I've got fireworks!" cried a Shy Guy, stumbling around with 5 boxes of explosives in his arms.

"Get Blooper to help you!" Boomerang Bro. cried, rushing over nevertheless. "You were supposed to take those to Mario Stadium!"

"Oo! Ice cream!" Cream cried, watching Koopa and Goomba set up another table. She wasted no time in heading over while the rest of the gang shrugged and followed. Luigi pasted the mint chip to Tails, who's eyes instantly grew big as he dove into it.

"Is this cake edible?" Amy asked, poking at a slice Peach placed in front of her. Peach rolled her eyes.

"Of course it is! And if you do enjoy it, then I may consider not rubbing it in your face!"

"Hmph! Even if it is good, it's not like I can't do better!"

Shadow glanced around suspiciously, to make sure no one was looking, then reached for a slice of cake. Guess who beat him to the punch and nabbed it?

"SILVER!"

"What? It's not like you'd be interested in such an unimportant pasty!"

"I was too going to eat that!"

"Just get another slice!"

"…fine."

Shadow prepared to cut another piece until Wario swooped in, picked up the plater, and swallowed the remainder of the cake whole. Shadow twitched, then preceded to knock Wario to the ground and beat him senseless. Rouge scooted away from that and snatched a cupcake that Daisy was going for.

"I sense bad things on the horizon…" Toad whispered to Cream.

"Let's hope there's not a food fight…" she whispered back, taking a bite of ice cream afterwards.

"No worries- Knuckles isn't around to throw food!" chuckled Luigi.

"Hey! Give me that!" Waluigi complained as Silver kinetically lifted Waluigi's ice cream away from him and ate it in one bite. He then magically snagged Yoshi's fruit and at that too.

"Sheesh, pig-out much Silver?" Blaze asked, delicately nibbling her dessert.

"That game has left me starving!"

"Hey Blaze- warm up this shroom dog for me!" Daisy calling, tossing the mushroom byproduct into the air blaze sighed.

"Fine…"

She snapped her finger, surrounding the food in flames, then catching the charred meal on a plate and handing it to Daisy.

"Oo, extra rare!"

"Why are you eating real food instead of just desserts?" Silver asked, stifling laughter.

Daisy folded her arms. "Maybe I'm acting watching myself unlike you!"

"Ouch, cold! Like this bowl of ice cream-"

Both Blaze and Daisy sighed and shook their heads, followed by glancing over their shoulders to see Shadow brutally beating Wario in the background. Tails, Luigi, Toad, and Cream were all having a conversation, Waluigi and Silver were yelling at each other, Amy and Peach were being competitive, Daisy and Blaze had somewhat tolerance for each other and Shadow was bent on killing Wario- everything was as it should be.

"Anyone else have any melon?" Yoshi asked, scanning the table. Rouge was about to bite into one, until Yoshi snapped out his tongue and took it from her.

"What's with everyone eating each other's food, dare I ask?" Rouge snarled.

"Starvation," replied Yoshi, then like a vacuum slurped up some grapes. The grapes reminded Rouge of Knuckles.

"Hey…where's Knuckles, DK, Mario, and Sonic?"

"Knuckles is still in the stands," Peach answered, serving another piece of cake to Cream. "…and DK, Mario and Sonic are managing fireworks. See? Look!"

Everyone turned up to the night sky, seeing the colors explode in loud bursts. Everyone gave out the natural "Oooh! Aah!" response.

"Where are they doing this at?" Amy asked.

"Mario Stadium. That's why we cleared out of there and came here- Daisy's cruiser is so spacious!" Peach giggled.

"I don't see a _Peach_ Cruiser anywhere-"

"I'm going to see Sonic!" Amy cried, rushing off the boat instantly. Silver patted his stomach then stood up also.

"I'm full. I could go for some close up fireworks."

**Meanwhile-**

"Hey Knuckles," Sonic said, coming up to talk to his friends once more. The echidna was contently watching the fireworks, used to sitting for long periods of time anyway. "I'm still really sorry you-"

"I told you, don't worry about it. I'll be fine as soon as we go home," Knuckles interrupted. Then Sonic sheepishly looked down.

"There's…also something I've been wanting to ask you. You can feel free to laugh and mock me or whatever once I ask you."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

"When you get all better and things, will you…help me…learn how to hit a baseball?"

Sonic then flinched, expecting laughter or a snarky comment, but instead, Knuckles just shrugged and said, "Sure. You could use a few lessons."

"…eh, really?"

"Yup. If anyone would be an excellent teacher, it'd be _yours truly_-"

"And _just_ when I thought you wouldn't hint at an ego boost-"

"I'm kidding! But I will help you, if you want."

Sonic broke out into a wide grin, with morphed into a smirk as he lit a match he pulled out of nowhere, then jumped off the edge of the stands and back into the field. Knuckles was taken aback and leaned forward to see what the crazy nut was about to do.

"What in this world…"

"_All right!"_ Sonic yelled as he ran down a line of fireworks, running a lit match down their fuses and sending them into the air. Mario and DK were currently smacking special bob-ombs into the sky that worked the same way as a firework. The rest of the gang ran in, either excited or overly full.

"Awesome!" cried Toad, and everyone had to agree somewhat.

"I've got sparklers!" Peach called, and Cream and surprisingly Shadow took them. Shadow had Blaze light his, then started to chase Wario around with them. Waluigi caught on with that idea and threatened to burn Silver with his sparkles. Silver, not knowing sparklers were just about harmless, instantly screamed and sprinted away, Waluigi in tow.

"Well, looks likes they're right back on track!" Sonic exclaiming, sitting on the firework bob-omb blaster as he spoke to Mario. DK punched another one into the sky as Mario nodded.

"Of course. We can't have a decent party without everyone at each other's throats, can't we?"

"I guess not," Sonic chuckled back, watching another explosion. "But you have to admit, that game was pretty fun."

"It was, wasn't it?"

"Interesting at the very least."

"And you told me you guys were terrible- we nearly tied!"

"If it wasn't for that last second screw up of mine-"

"You can't-" Mario smacked another bomb upwards. "-blame yourself. I got you out, and your last hit was rather impressive."

"Maybe, maybe. Baseball just isn't my sport. I'm more of a running-action kinda guy, not really the arm-action, y'know?"

"Sure Sonic…" Mario hit another. "Would you ever play us again?"

Sonic smirked. "Heck no."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of Silver howling and cowering in fear as Waluigi attempted to light the hedgehog's hairdo on fire while Shadow was still stalking Wario.

"It's completely harmless, wienie!"

"I don't trust a word out of your mouth! A stick that lights up can't _possibly_ be safe!"

Mario and Sonic both rolled their eyes. "Typical Silver."

"Someone help! Please!"

Blaze tackled Waluigi, who fell, and then Wario and Shadow tripped over them, and Yoshi joined in hitting people for no legitimate reason. Luigi, Tails, Cream, and Toad just looked on, then decided to focus on the sparklers and fireworks, Rouge shook her head and walked away, while Peach tried to break up the scuffle and Amy attempted to make it worse by bopping the souls with her hammer. Mario smacked his head as Sonic sweat dropped.

"…typical us."

"We can't ever get along, can we?"

"No, the universe forbids it."

* * *

**And there we have it! :D Short and sweet chapter to wrap everything up. As some of you may have heard already, there will be some sort of sequel to this. No, it's not another baseball game, but the reason I call it a sequel is because it takes place after this story, s'all. You'll know it when you see it. **

**Until then, thanks for reading and reviewing, all! I would have no inspiration if it wasn't for you people! ^^**


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